Blind Shadows
by Sakiru Yume
Summary: Some diseases kill. But sometimes, those that do not hurt the most, because then you have to face living with them. What do you do when that becomes too much? What do you do when strength inflicts more wounds on you than weakness does? IchigoxOC
1. The Mysterious Newcomer

**_A mysterious Shinigami appears. What are her motives? OcxIchigo My first fanfic that I'm posting. NO FLAMING!!! Please._**

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_ I'm nobody! Who are you?  
Are you nobody, too?  
Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!  
They'd banish us, you know! _

_ How dreary to be somebody! _  
_ How public like a frog _  
_ To tell one's name the livelong day _  
_ To an admiring bog!__  
-Emily Dickinson  
_

Ichigo is running towards the location of a hollow. He arrives and a half-second later a girl appears through flash steps. Dodging the hollow's attacks, she draws her sword, attacking Ichigo.

"What the hell are you doing?! I'm a Shinigami representative!" Ichigo shouts at the girl.

"I'm a Shinigami. So what?" She calls back, "Enkou, Hebi no Hinote! (Flame, Serpent's Fire)" Her katana turns into a large black dragon attached to a slightly larger hilt. A wisp of smoke rises out of its open mouth. She shifts her hand (with the sword) slightly and the dragon shoots at Ichigo. He jumps out of the way to dodge the dragon, but a flame lashes out and strikes Ichigo on the back. Ichigo uses flash steps to teleport all around the girl, but every burst of fire from the dragon hits him. The fight for a few more minutes like that, until Kuro slices his chest open.

"Bastard! _Bankai_!" Ichigo shouts, but before he can move, the dragon smashes him on the back, sending him flying down to the ground. As his eyes are closing, he sees her looking down at him.

"You underestimate girls so you took too long after you did your bankai." Then she reaches down and, with surprisingly gentle fingers, closes his eyes. Under her breath, she murmurs, "Don't worry." The girl then stands up and walked over to the hollow, who had been trying to attack them the entire time. A single line of fire shoots out of the dragon's mouth, slicing through the hollow's arm. It screams in pain and flies at her. She jumps up and slashes at the hollow. The dragon cuts right through the hollow's head and it disintegrates.

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She sighs and walks over to Ichigo. After picking up Ichigo, she uses a few flash steps to get to Urahara's shop. She knocks on the door. A moment later the door opens and Urahara comes out.

"Can you take care of Ichigo?" The girl asks.

"Who are you?"

"Can you take care of Ichigo?" The girl repeated.

"What happened?"

"Can you ta-." She falls to her knees for a second, sweating. Then she straightens out again. "Can you please take care of Ichigo?" She sounded a little desperate.

"Yes, but-."The girl sets Ichigo down on the ground and disappeared.

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**_I know it was short. Please rate. Tell what I am doing wrong so I can make it better. I will try to respond._**


	2. A New Ally

**_Strange, but _will _get better. Already is better (Kinda)_**

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_Nobody is who they seem at first, and nobody stays the same, so you never know who a person really is._

Ichigo walked into school bandaged up, still kicking himself after losing to an unknown Shinigami. A girl, no less. He is walking to his seat when he bumps into someone. He turns around to apologize and sees that the person that he bumped into is the girl from yesterday, wearing the school outfit.

"Y-You!" He shouts, similar to when he saw Rukia at his school for the first time.

"Hello, Kurosaki. Oh my, where did you get all of those injuries?" She says in a sweet, mocking voice.

"How do you know m-" The girl placed her finger to his lips, then whispered in his ear.

"Rukia told me." Ichigo's mouth fell open and he stood there like that for a second until the teacher came in.

"Kurosaki sit down! Oh, that's where you went!" The teacher (A/N I forgot her name…) dragged the girl to the front of the room while Ichigo walked the rest of the way to his desk. "This is Osore Kuro. She just moved from, uh, somewhere. Anyway, say hi! You can sit behind Kurosaki." Kuro bowed, then walked over and sat behind Ichigo.

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Ichigo, who was sitting with his hands behind his head, shifted slightly as Kuro pushed a note into the palm of his hand. It read, 'Get out of this classroom. I will follow.' Ichigo got up and left the classroom, calling to the teacher "I'm going to the bathroom," and sure enough, Kuro followed.

When they got outside, Ichigo hissed, "What is it?"

"You have a ridiculous number of hollows in your town. I killed two yesterday and now there is one today. We should both go, although I just want to watch you fight. God, you sucked yesterday."

"Fine," He said. He pulled out his Shinigami badge because Kon was still at his house, but Kuro was already ahead of him. She stuck a light green pill in his mouth, than one in her own. Both she and Ichigo popped out of their bodies. Kuro turned to the false her and Ichigo and said, "Go back to class. Act normal." Then she began flash stepping towards the site of the hollow. Ichigo followed.

As they neared the site of the hollow, they both felt an extremely large reiatsu. An Adjuchas stood shooting ceros at nearby buildings, decimating them immediately.

"Crap."

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_**Please review. I will continue if anyone likes it.**_


	3. The Shinigami Afraid of Shinigami

**_Third chapter today. Kuro gets a more distinct personality later. _**

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_Hate is eternal  
As much as it seems to fade  
It never really goes away_

Kuro and Ichigo draw their swords simultaneously, but Ichigo rushed in and Kuro stays back, watching. Ichigo immediately uses his Bankai, but is quickly beaten down.

"Bastard!" Ichigo shouts, trying to stand up. His forehead, left cheek, and right arm are bleeding profusely, but he still tries to get up. Kuro walks up next to him, picks him up, and flash steps him relatively far out of harm's way. Then she flash steps back to the Adjuchas and uses Bankai.

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As Ichigo struggles to stand up, an inhumanly large reiatsu pushes him back down. He tries even harder to get up now, but in his weakened state, he can't get himself up.

Kuro frowns and mutters something about not getting angry as her sword transforms into a large black dragon (A/N That only takes about ½ of a second.). Then she points her hand at the hollow and the dragon shoots at him. The hollow evades her attack and directs a cero blast at her. Kuro tries to avoid it, but it catches her left arm. The skin peels off and she is left with a raw, bleeding arm. She winces, but otherwise shows no sign of pain.

"Jinsei no Itami to Ojike. Ketsuki no Kasai." (A/N Life's pain and fear. Blood's fire.) A long burst of fire comes out of the dragon's mouth, completely engulfing the Adjuchas. Kuro jumps into the fire, her dragon following close behind.

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Urahara watches this scene from the window of his shop. For once he looks surprised. An Adjuchas hasn't shown up in Karakura Town in 40 years. The other reiatsu was also the same one that had clashed with Ichigo's yesterday. This was worrying.

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Orihime, Chad and, Uryuu wince as they feel an incredibly large reiatsu suddenly appear. They had watched Ichigo run out of the room with the new girl and had immediately known something was wrong. Now this reiatsu has appeared, but it isn't Ichigo's and it isn't that of a hollow. In fact, it isn't like that of any Shinigami they'd seen in the Soul Society.

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As the flames disperse, the hollow vanishes and Kuro lands solidly on the ground. The spirit pressure fades to a normal and Ichigo is able to get up. He rushes over to where Kuro is, to find her lying on the ground, her head and arms bleeding. He helps her stand, the flash steps with her to Urahara's shop. Ichigo knocks on the door. The sliding door opens and Urahara steps out.

"The shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it?" He smirks.

"Shut up." She manages to rasp, before collapsing on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Please take care of her." Ichigo says awkwardly, before Urahara carries her in. Ichigo then returns to school.

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Kuro has the strangest feeling, like the injuries on her arm are closing up, or something similar. She opens her heavy eyes and sees a black haired Shinigami leaning over her.

"Good, you're awake. I'm surprised, you've only been out for about an hour or two, and you were pretty badly beaten up." Kuro sits bolt upright, then stands up. The Shinigami, Hanatarou, tries fruitlessly to pull her back down. "No, you need to rest! Your skull was almost crushed!"

"Get away from me, you freak!" Kuro shouts, then runs out of the shop. She keeps running until she reaches Ichigo's school. There she runs up the stairs until she gets to the roof, where Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, and Uryuu are having lunch. Completely ignoring the others, Kuro grabs Ichigo and pulls him over to the shadows.

"If you ever bring a Shinigami to this world or tell them that I'm here, I will kill both you and the Shinigami! Understand?" Kuro screams at Ichigo. Ichigo sweatdrops.

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At the sound of Kuro's voice, Orihime, Chad, Uryuu, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro all look up simultaneously.

'That's the new girl'

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_**I won't write more of this story today, but you should read my Vampire Knight fanfic if you enjoy Vampire Knight. The Chapters **_**are _getting longer._**


	4. The Onslaught Begins Pt 1

**_OK, Kuro is turning out differently than I had originally planned. She was originally supposed to be cool and aloof. (I like big words!)_**

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_If you say pain is all in someone's head, you are denying an undeniable reality: everyone feels pain._

Kuro froze, her eyes widening slightly. It was her third day in Karakura High School, and she still hadn't answered Ichigo's questions of how she knew Rukia or where she lived. They all knew that she was hiding something, but she didn't care.

She hissed in Ichigo's ear. "There are four hollows in your town right now. C'mon." Ichigo ran out of the room. A second later Kuro joined him in Shinigami form. "Stop running out of your classroom whenever there is a hollow alert. And eat this." She stuck a pill in his mouth. He swallowed, then came out of his body, and Kuro turned to the gigai-him.

"Act normal. And_subtly_ keep Kurosaki's friends _in_ the classroom." The gigai-Ichigo nodded and began walking away as Kuro began shunpoe-ing toward the hollows.

When she got to the location of the hollows, she stopped in alarm. People were pointing and staring at the nearest hollow. She cursed. Ichigo appeared next to her and she pulled him into the shadows.

"They can see the hollow. Something is wrong. Go protect the innocent bystanders or do whatever the hell you do. I'll be back in a." Kuro shunpoe'd away. A moment later she appeared at Urahara's shop. She knocked. Urahara appeared at the door, smiling.

"He-"

"I know that you're a Shinigami. I know that you got kicked out because of your inventions. I need your help. Humans can see the hollows and there are more of them than ever."

"Kurosaki-san is fighting them?" Urahara looked serious now, and not the least bit confused.

"You already knew that. But it doesn't matter. Do you know when this started?"

"Three days ago." Kuro's eyes widened slightly. "You should go fight them. I'll tell you when I get an answer." Kuro shunpoe'd away.

Urahara turned around, then glanced down at the black cat in front of him. "Perfect timing, Yoruichi. We're going to need reinforcements."

"My pleasure." The cat said in a deep male voice.

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Ichigo and Kuro stood on the sidewalk, panting heavily.

"We've _(pant)_ been _(pant) (pant) _fighting _(pant) _for three _(pant)_ hours." Kuro touched her forehead and winced. The portion over her right eye, a long cut on her arm, and about thirty other wounds all over her body were bleeding profusely.

"Ask that Urahara guy or your friends to kill the next couple of hollows that appear. Neither of us are in any condition to fight.

"But-" Kuro placed a finger to Ichigo's lips.

"Ssh. They can still see us. And anyway, you're just about to pass out. C'mon." Kuro grabbed Ichigo's arm, then pulled him forcefully towards Urahara's shop. The door was open so she pulled him inside. Urahara was standing in front of them, smiling in an idiotic way that only he could pull off.

"May I heal Ichigo in your house?" Urahara nodded, then opened his mouth to say something.

Kuro interrupted him before he even began. "I don't trust Shinigami from the Soul Society. That aside, I would send Sado-san and Ishida-san to patrol the streets." Urahara nodded, then left, humming. Kuro shoved Ichigo down, then began healing him. At first he squirmed and tried to get up, but finally he relaxed and passed out.

Kuro finished healing him, then almost immediately passed out, her head on Ichigo's stomach. Yoruichi, in human form, stepped out of the shadows, smiling. _That saved me a lot of work. _Then she frowned._Something is up with this girl._

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_**Please Review. I'll try to update soon.**  
_


	5. The Onslaught Begins Pt 2

_**I have posted so much today, it is ridiculous. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**_

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_The only thing to fear is fear itself. And big sticks. _

Kuro awoke with a start. It felt as though there were more than fifty reiatsus in the town. There were quite a few Shinigami reiatsus near her, close enough to be the next room over. Those reiatsus were partnered with voices, loud and strong.

"Yumichika, Ikkaku, and Akari are out fighting the hollows, but they just keep on coming! What's going on?" An aggravatingly familiar voice shouted.

"If I knew, I would tell you. As of right now, though, we need to continue fighting them."

"Kuro struggled to a standing position, then limped into the room with the voices. "I'll help." She announced. Then she noticed who was there. Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Hanatarou, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Urahara, Soifon, and Yoruichi sat around a short wooden table.

"You are-" Hitsugaya shouted.

"I know who I am. But you need help and I can help you. You know that as well as I do."

"We'll help too!" A shout came from outside. Uryuu, Chad and Orihime burst into the room panting.

Kuro turned to Urahara. "May I take charge for a minute?" Urahara nodded, smiling. "OK. Well, Inoue-san and Hanatarou should stay here and heal. We'll need healing within ½ an hour. Everyone else should fight. Urahara-san, are you going to fight?"

"I'll stay here and protect the healers. They have high enough spirit energy that it will be noticed."

"W-Wait! Why are we listening to someone like her?!"

"Calm down, Hitsugaya-taicho. She knows what she's doing." Rukia smiled reassuringly at Kuro.

"We need to go, but I have one last thing to say: don't join in other's fights. There are more than ten Menos Grande out there and only one of them is a Gillian. We need to concentrate on _killing_ the hollows, _not_ helping each other. Got it? OK, c'mon."

Kuro shunpoe'd out of the room, to be greeted with a Vasto Lorde. She disappeared and a second later a large black dragon appeared, attempting to slam into the Vasto Lorde. The Menos disappeared and reappeared on the tree branch next to Kuro, who vanished. She appeared riding on her dragon.

The Vasto Lorde and Kuro became a blurred, frenzied dance, flying through the sky. As they fought, an idle though passed through her Kuro's head._Kurosaki's fighting the Gillian._

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There was a loud thump next to Kuro. She looked down and saw a Shinigami lying bleeding on the ground next to her. A hollow sped towards him, but Kuro stepped in front of the Shinigami, slaying the hollow with one swing of her sword.

Kuro lifted up the Shinigami and shunpoe'd to Urahara's shop. She laid him in the first room , then called for Orihime and Hanatarou to come. When she saw them coming, she shunpoe'd away. Kuro landed in front of Yoruichi.

"This isn't working. There have been over a hundred of them here. I beat the only Vasto Lorde, but there are God-know how many Adjuchas. Something is seriously wrong here." Kuro looked at Yoruichi's impassive face, then winced. Her side hurt like hell and the rest of her felt no much better.

"You should go get healed. You're no use if you're too injured." Yoruichi announced.

"I'm no use when I'm getting healed. I'm fine. _Damn_, another Shinigami went down. I'll go get him." Kuro ran to where Yumichika was flying down to the ground at an alarming rate, unconscious. Kuro caught him, then shunpoe'd him back to Urahara's shop. She laid him next to Hanatarou, who immediately began healing him, then took off again.

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_**You better have liked it. I hope you did. Please review.  
**_

_**I need sugar. Do you need sugar? Well too bad.**_


	6. A Fighting Chance

Next chapter is up. I try to post every day and I hope I can keep that up. Hope you like it.

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Hope doesn't give you a fighting chance  
Power does  
Power doesn't give you a reason to fight  
Hope does

"We (cough) can't keep on doing this (cough)." Kuro, Ichigo, Yoruichi, and Soifon stood panting on an apartment building roof. Hitsugaya, Renji, and Rukia were still fighting, but the flow of hollows had stopped for the moment.

"They have slowed down. Maybe they'll stop soon." Rukia said hopefully, coming up from behind them. She was panting and her arms were bleeding heavily.

"You should go get healed. I'll go take you." Kuro offered. Rukia shook her head, then spun shouted a warning to Kuro. Kuro spun around and saw a hollow flying at her at record speed. She pulled out her sword and cut through it in one long slash.

"I'll go back to fighting." Kuro announced. She absentmindedly rubbed her bleeding arm, then took off, using Shikai and slaying minor hollows as she went. She stopped in front of a newly arrived Gilllian and used Bankai.

She took off, flying almost in synch with the dragon. They quickly defeated the Gillian, but for more Menos appeared in front of her.

"Damn." Kuro felt her temper rising and she tried to control it, but it was fruitless. Her eyes turned pure white and an immense reiatsu formed around her.

The Shinigami on the rooftop turned around, all alarmed at the sudden increase of Kuro's reiatsu. Rukia looked the most worried and immediately took off after Kuro. The rest of the Shinigami followed, but stopped at the sight of Kuro attacking Menos Grande and massive hollows, blood seeming to pour from every pore in her body. Her eyes were blank and white and she didn't seem to notice the Shinigami fifty feet away from her.

Suddenly, after all of the hollows were gone, she turned and faced the Shinigami. Instead of saying anything, she attacked, going for Hitsugaya, who had just arrived a few minutes ago. She drove him back, beating him from even the first few seconds.

"Help me!" She screamed. Rukia rushed forward, then placed a binding spell on Kuro. Kuro plummeted down to earth from the air that she had been standing on, her eyes closed. Ichigo caught her, then brought her back to the rooftop, where he laid her down.

"Arigato," She whispered, then passed out. Rukia sighed in relief.

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"Kuchiki, if you know what is with this girl, tell us." Hitsugaya demanded.

"No. I can't tell any of you." Rukia replied. She was looking down and appeared uncomfortable.

"There is something wrong with that girl." Renji remarked.

"Shut up." Rukia shot back.

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Bright sunlight shown through Kuro's heavy eyelids. She tried to open them, but they seemed to be sealed shut.

"Rukia, you seem to have forgotten to take the binding spell off of me. And I know that you're there. I can sense you." Kuro heard a sheepish giggle, then found that she was finally able to open her eyes. "Thank you. They asked, didn't they." Rukia nodded mutely.

"Did you tell them?" Rukia shook her head, still pretending to be mute. "Thanks. What's wrong?" Kuro asked, worried about her friend's strange behavior.

Rukia burst out laughing, unable to contain herself any longer. "Wow, I can't believe you don't know!"

"What?" Kuro asked, annoyed.

"I won't tell you. Anyway, you should find out soon enough."

Kuro got up and lunged at Rukia, then pitched forward, clutching her side. Rukia caught her and guided her back to the mat on the floor. "You're going to open up all of your wounds. The healers couldn't heal you very well because your reiatsu was overpowering even after you fainted."

"Sorry. I don't want to be such a burden. I'll leave now." Kuro tried to get up but Rukia stopped her.

"Do you still live in the forest?" Kuro didn't answer, but her silence was enough. "I knew it. You are not going back there. You are staying here o I'm going to force Ichigo to let you live at his house." Rukia laughed at Kuro's almost indiscernible blush. "I'll use that idea."

"Rukia!" Kuro shouted in outrage.

"Just kidding. Lets go get food. You must be starving. When was the last time you ate?" Rukia inquired.

"Ano…ano…ano…" Rukia frowned, then pulled Kuro into the room next door, where all of the Shinigami were eating. Kuro blanched, then tried to pull away from Rukia. Rukia practically dragged Kuro to a spot next to Ichigo, then sat between Kuro and Hitsugaya.

While all of the Shinigami stuffed their faces, Kuro sat quietly, her bowl of rice sitting untouched in front of her. After a few minutes, she dragged Ichigo outside, then shoved him down into a sitting position. She sat next to him, her dark eyes unreadable.

"I have something to tell you…"

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I hope you liked it. Review, or you will be attacked by the evil pink ponies of doom. DOOM!!! 


	7. Author Note

I'm really sorry that it is taking so long. My file got corrupted and I was away and stuff… Well, sorry. I'll post as soon as I'm done, but I have to write the chapter from scratch and get ready for the SATs and do HW and stuff like that. (I'm not a junior in High School, FYI)


	8. The Hardest Memory

I'm updating this because I had some changes to make, partly for my own sake. One thing to note is that Kuro is her last name, not her first name. Please enjoy.

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_Human life is controlled by human emotions and human reactions. That way, it is our problem if we screw up._

"I have to tell you something." Kuro began.

"What?"

"I have this disease. If I get angry, stressed, annoyed, or too emotional, I lose control. First I lose control of my body. I can't move and I am in great pain. If I get too angry, I lose control of my body and I will attack indiscriminately. The Shinigami other than Mayuri, Nemu-san, and a few scientists, as well as Rukia, don't know about this, and you can't tell them."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ichigo asked.

"Because I thought you'd understand." Kuro ran back into the house.

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"Do you know where Kuro is?" Ichigo asked Rukia.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I haven't seen her all day. Now where's Kuro?"

"Are you worried?" Rukia smirked at Ichigo.

"For the third time, where is Kuro?"

"She is in town." Ichigo raced out of the room and shunpoe'd around, trying to find Kuro's reiatsu. Finally he found her and began following her, what he thought was inconspicuously.

After a few minutes, Kuro called back to him. "You can stop following me and come out." Ichigo shunpoe'd up to where she was.

"Why are you following me?" She asked.

"Where are you going?" He shot back.

"You'll see. Play tag with me until we get there." Before Ichigo could respond, she disappeared, reappearing for only milliseconds before vanishing again. Ichigo followed, but didn't catch up to her until she stopped.

They were standing in a graveyard somewhere outside town. Kuro walked to a grave about fifty feet away and stopped.

_Yaiba Kuro_

_1957-1999_

_Mother, Daughter, Sister, Friend_

_Much loved, much missed._

"This is my mother's grave." She announced, answering Ichigo's unsaid question.

"How did she die?" As soon as Ichigo asked, he wished he hadn't. He of all people knew how much it hurt.

To his surprise, Kuro answered. "The Shinigami killed her. They came and tried to take her back to the Soul Society. I think she would've have gone, had it not been for me. I would have caused too many problems and hurt too many people, had I been left alone. So they killed her." Her voice cracked. "I couldn't save her; I couldn't save him; Hell, I can't even save myself."

"Him?" Ichigo asked, intrigued in spite of himself.

Kuro continued almost as if she hadn't heard him. "I had just returned and I went to school. My anger was so pent up that when he teased me about being different, I exploded. I killed him. My reiatsu alone killed him, because he could sense it but couldn't handle it. My frickin' reiatsu killed a person who did nothing wrong. This is why my mother didn't want to leave."

Before Ichigo could say anything to comfort her, a hollow appeared. He went for his sword, but Kuro stood in front of him, stopping him. She pulled out her own sword and, without releasing it, attacked the creature. She was fast, but could never land a hit on the creature.

Suddenly, when she was just about to strike it down, the hollow vanished. Kuro fell to the ground, then stood upright and walked over to Ichigo.

"Why did you stop me?" He demanded. "I could have beaten it easily."

"I need to beat it myself. Every year this hollow comes, only on this day. I believe that it is my mother, trying to get me to stand on my own, to win against my fear and anger and to fight as myself. I need to fight with my own power and my own heart, not with my zanpakutō or my condition." Kuro stumbled forward, her head resting on Ichigo's chest.

"Lets go home."

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I hope you enjoyed the new version. All I really added was the grave, which I had had in my original file, before it got corrupted. Thanks for reading and please review, or fluffly bunnies will eat your head. That is, onlyafter Kuro chops you into a million little tiny pieces. Mwahahahaha


	9. The Fight for Revenge

Thank you, everybody who has review so far. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I promise to post again soon.

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_Your hatred of one can far outweigh your hatred of many._

"Bye," Kuro called, walking towards the exit of the Urahara Shouten. "I'm leaving now."

"No, you're not." Urahara called back, not even looking up. Kuro cursed internally and turned around. She walked into the room Urahara was in and sat down. It was then that she noticed Hitsugaya standing outside of the building, talking to Matsumoto. Kuro shunpoe'd out of the building and to a tree within earshot of Hitsugaya and Matsumoto.

"We need to bring her to the Soul Society. Remember the decree saying that if she was found, she had to be brought immediately. We've waited too long as it is."

"I dunno, taicho. Maybe we should let her stay. I mean, you saw how strong she was." Matsumoto protested.

"Exactly. We need to go find her. You bring her to the Soul Society and then return here." Kuro felt her anger rising and made no move to calm down. Her reiatsu rose dangerously as she ran towards Hitsugaya, drawing her sword. Hitsugaya, finally feeling her reiatsu, spun around, his eyes widening noticeably after seeing Kuro.

"You are not frickin' taking me back there!" Kuro screamed. "I was there for long enough!"

"What the-" Ichigo ran over to where Kuro and Hitsugaya were fighting, but was held back by Rukia. He struggled for a second, then stopped. Rukia sighed, then frowned at Kuro, but made no move to stop her.

"If we try to stop her, we'll both get killed. Now only Hitsugaya-taichou might. And she'll probably stop herself before that." There was a yell as Kuro flew at Hitsugaya. They had both used Bankai and this seemed to have given Kuro a definite edge. The ice dragon was melting and Hitsugaya's face was covered in blood. Blood streaked his white hair and he was panting heavily.

"Why the hell are you attacking me?" Hitsugaya yelled. Kuro didn't respond, but just thrust her sword at him again. Hitsugaya moved too slowly and Kuro's blade made a long gash across his chest. Hitsugaya stumbled and fell. Kuro rose her sword again, obviously going to administer the finishing blow.

"KURO, STOP!!!" Rukia screamed. Kuro froze, then dropped her sword. It clattered to the ground.

"Go-Gomenasai…I lost…I'm…I…" Ichigo approached Kuro slowly and placed a hand on her shoulder. Kuro spun around and hugged him, much to Ichigo's surprise. Ichigo comforted her, then started to lead her back to the shop.

Suddenly, the spirit gate opened and Byakuya appeared. Kuro, sensing his reiatsu, broke free from Ichigo and spun around. The group of people who had gathered (Urahara, Yoruichi, Chad, Ishida, Renji, Matsumoto, Rukia (duh)) also looked up. Kuro grabbed her sword and lunged at Byakuya, only to be held back by Ishida, Chad, and Ichigo.

An immense, inhuman reiatsu appeared, driving everyone but Ichigo, Byakuya, Kuro, Yoruichi, and Urahara to their knees. Kuro began coughing viciously and blood from one of her numerous wounds began pouring out. She passed out and the reiatsu vanished.

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"What the hell was that, Rukia?" Ichigo demanded.

Rukia looked resigned. "That was Kuro."

"Do you mean that that was Kuro's anger controlling her?"

"No. That was Kuro. She may have partly been controlled by her anger, but she only went against Hitusgaya-taichou. She only went against the people that she had the most anger against."

"Why did she hate Toshiro?" Ichigo asked.

"Hitsugaya-taichou and Nii-sama killed Kuro's mother."

"Why?"

"You ask Kuro yourself. She made me promise not to tell."

"Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san, Kuro is awake and would like to talk to you!" Urahara called from the next room over. Ichigo and Rukia ran in.

"I need to talk to you two, Urahara-san, and Shihouin-san." Kuro announced weakly."

"Now,"

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I hope you liked it. Please review. This took a while even though I had it all planned out. I don't know why. Oh well.


	10. My Past, My Future

Konbanwa. Iterashai. The chapter is finally up. I hope that you enjoy it. This is an important chapter. Arigato.

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_As long as you live  
Others will die_  
But if you die  
_That will not stop_

"I need to tell all of you this. Well, Rukia already knows this, but that's why I need her. Rukia, you aren't allowed to let me stop. If I stop, I probably won't start again. I need to tell you my story. I first saw my mother in Shinigami form when I was five. She was fighting a hollow and I got, well, _involved_. My reiatsu increased inhumanly and the hollow…blew up. It was then that my mother realized that there was something wrong with me. She began training me, helping me control my anger. Then the Shinigami came. The ones who came were Kuchiki-taichou, Hitsugaya-taichou, Matsumoto-san, Renji-san, and Kira-san. Kuchiki-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou killed-" Kuro's voice broke.

"Go on. It's alright," Rukai said softly. Kuro looked up, her bangs shadowing her eyes. She nodded.

"Kuchiki-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou killed my mother. Matsumoto-san, Renji-san, and Kira-san held me back. I do not hate them for it, because I know that they saved my life by doing that," Kuro said matter-of-factly. "After that I was taken to the Soul Society. I had experiments done on me by Mayuri-taichou. I was also sent to the Academy so I could use my powers better during the experiments. There was another person with my disease. His name was Kantoni Isami. He was the only person kind to me at first."

"Kuro-san, I have a question," Urahara said, "What 'disease'?"

"Sorry. Kurosaki and Rukia know this. If I get to emotional or angry, my reiatsu rises to a dangerously high level. There is said to be two stages of the disease. The first is where the disease overruns your body and paralyzes you until you calm down. The second stage is where the disease overruns your mind and makes you run solely on anger. You are not able to distinguish between friend and foe. You will attack indiscriminately, and without fear, pain, or any sense or morals. They believed that only Isami was at the second stage, so they gave me slightly more freedoms. In four years I was allowed to explore the Seireitei five times. The first time that I was exploring, I met Rukia. She befriended me and I ended up telling her the entire story after a while." Kuro paused, then broke into a coughing fit.

Kuro stopped coughing a moment later. "Everything changed about four years after I came to the Soul Society. Isami broke us out. He let himself get angry, then destroyed the entire facility. Both he and I escaped, although I don't know where he is currently. I went to a town about ten miles to the south of my hometown and began living in the forest. I started going to school, but I was teased and tormented because I was new. One day I snapped and couldn't control my anger anymore. My reiastu rose and a boy who could sense reiatsu but couldn't handle high levels of it felt it. His heart stopped and he died. He hadn't even been teasing me. He was innocent." Kuro's voice raised an octave on the last word.

"Rukia has been supplying me with information about the Soul Society for the two years that I have been back for. She has broken multiple rules in doing that. The thing is, you can't keep on risking yourself for me. I have told you why I need to leave. Please let me. I can't hurt any more innocent people. Please-_crap_."

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"There's another wave of hollows. We need to go fight." Kuro started to stand up, but Urahara pushed her back down with his cane (A.N. Think episode 17).

"You are useless if you can't move well. Stay here and rest." Urahara said forcibly. He, Rukia, Ichigo, and Yoruichi left the room. Kuro lay back down and closed her eyes.

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"Rukia," Ichigo called, "There's something wrong with Kuro!"

Rukia ran over to him. "What?"

"Her reiatsu just spiked, then suddenly fell. I'm going to go in and see what's going on." Ichigo ran back into the Urahara Shop and to where Kuro was. Or where she was supposed to be.

Kuro was gone.

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Well, I hope you liked it. I know that there was a lot of dialogue, but it was needed. I had to have Kuro explain her past. You may want to reread this chapter after you read next chapter. That is the only hint that I am giving. Please review.


	11. What is Taken is not Gone

_**Hello, there. This was a kind of aggravating chapter. I don't know why. Oh well, hope you enjoy.**_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_What you give up you can never get back._

Kuro opened her eyes blearily. It was dark, but Kuro could see that she was in a cave of sorts.

"Glad you're awake, Osore," Kuro looked over and saw a man with brown hair and amber eyes looking at her.

"Isami? What're you doing here? What am _I_ doing here?"

"I'm sorry for the rough handling. I knew that you would resist me bringing you here. But it's been so long. I just had to see you."

"So you chained me to a bed. I would rather not be here. I have things too do that are more important than…well, being chained to a bed." Kuro started to struggle against the chains, but it was pointless.

"Ah yes, the hollows. Don't worry; I called them off. Your friends are safe, for now."

"That was_ you_? You did that?"

"Of course, Osore. I needed _some_ way of gauging your friends' power. And the power of the Shinigami."

"Why the hell did you…what have you become, Isami? Why have you turned so cold?"

Isami's face hardened and he walked over to her. He brushed a long black bang out of Kuro's face. "I watched you break. And…I watched myself break. And then, when we were good and broken, we escaped. I slowly began recovering, but you remained broken. Even now, you are broken."

Kuro gasped. "You've been watching me."

Isami pulled out his sword and unsheathed it. He pricked her arm, drawing a drop of blood. Deep exhaustion set into her bones and she sank back. Kuro thought she heard Isami say, "Because I needed to, my sister," but she was already gone.

Isami watched Kuro's sleeping face grimly. "What have you become?"

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"Kuro's missing?" Rukia exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah. Urahara-san, do you know what's going on?" Ichigo asked.

"No. I had heard of this disease, but I had never seen it before. Can either of you sense her reiatsu? You both know hers better than I do."

Rukia spoke. "I can feel it, but it's weak. And there's an incredibly powerful reiatsu near her."

Ichigo stood up. "Lets go."

"We're going too," Ichigo and Rukia looked at the source of the voice. Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Ikkaku, Madarame, Akari, and Renji were standing in the doorway. (Kinda. Hitsugaya and Akari in front, Ikkaku and Madarame in back, Matsumoto and Renji in the middle.)

Ichigo opened his mouth. "We aren't going to argue, Kurosaki. We _are_ going," Renji cut off Ichigo before he could speak.

"Fine."

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Kuro awoke with pain in most of her body. She realized that she was upright and looked down. Her feet were dangling limply about fifteen feet above the floor. Kuro began struggling, but her hands were bound too tightly.

A boy walked into the cave-room. He had spiky black hair and was wearing a Shinigami outfit, complete with a sheathed sword.

"You," Kuro gasped.

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_**Hope you liked it. I had this written a while ago, but I was busy reading Negima. Sorry about that. The next chapter will be up soon.**_


	12. What you do not Wish to See

_**Well, it's finally here. This may seem like a weird chapter. It is. Hope you enjoy.**_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_We are all  
dead since we are born  
The end is  
there before anything starts  
If to live is  
to continue learning  
The end is when we learn the very last thing  
To finally discover the end  
and learning about it completely  
is what death is  
We are not allowed to learn about something  
Those who cannot transcend death,  
shouldn't learn of anything_

_-Bleach_

"Yes, me. Surprised?" The boy smiled at her.

"Where's Isami? Why are you here?" Kuro demanded.

"Y'know, you're the only person in the past three years to call me that. I must say I don't miss the name."

Kuro gasped. "How the hell were you _Isami_? Who _are_ you?"

"The Shinigami are coming, so I'll tell you quickly. I was born to Yaiba Kuro and Hayao Kuro." Kuro's eyes widened, but she quickly regained her composure.

"My parents knew of my affliction from birth. They gave me to a family that was nearby but that couldn't feel my terrifying reiatsu. Nine years later, two children were stolen from the town. One of the children released a persistent poison from his sword. The poison made everyone affected by it see him as a man with brown hair and amber eyes. Now do you understand, my sister?"

"Crap," Kuro whispered. "Crap. CRAP!" Kuro's reiatsu rose, but she held it back. She couldn't hurt Isami, not matter his name.

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_**Flashback**_

_"Hey Hayate, over here!" A young girl called to a boy who appeared to be about her age. She trough a ball to him, but it hit him on his head, momentarily flattening his spiky black hair. He looked as though he was about to cry, but suddenly he burst out laughing. The girl joined in._

"_Kuro, lets be friend forever," the boy said happily._

"_Duh." At that, they both burst out laughing again._

_**End of Flashback**_

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Ichigo burst into the room, followed closely by his friends.

"Give Kuro back!" He shouted. Hayate just smirked and walked in front of Kuro, facing the intruders. Ichigo tried to shunpo up to where Kuro was, but Hayate blocked him and threw him back down. Ichigo crashed into the ground with a loud thump, blood spurting from his mouth.

"Ichigo!" Kuro cried. She didn't seem to realize her blunder of calling Ichigo by his first name (A/N This is for all those that don't understand. In Japanese, first name is usually only used for very close friends, relatives, or lovers.)

Hayate turned around and smiled at her. "Don't worry; it'll be over soon." He turned back to face his enemies. "I'm not giving Osore to you. She's not going back to the Soul Society."

Ichigo ran at Hayate, but he vanished, then reappeared behind Ichigo, smiling conversationally. "Calm down, Kurosaki. I won't get mad." Ichigo froze for a second and Hayate sent him flying.

"That doesn't mean I won't beat you up a bit." He smirked at Ichigo.

"STOP!" Kuro screamed. Hayate shunpoe'd up to where she was.

"Don't worry, Osore," he whispered in her ear. "I won't kill him. I'll even return them to their wonderful town after I play around with them a bit. Just relax and enjoy the show."

He vanished and down below her a cloud of lavender-gray smoke appeared. Kuro heard people coughing loudly and the clanging of swords. She freed her hands and dropped the fifteen feet to the ground. The smoke burned her throat and made her bloody hands sting. Kuro couldn't locate her sword, but she knew enough hand-to-hand fighting to be useful.

There was a slight increase of reiatsu behind her. "I'm going to let you return with your friends, but I'll get you later and then we can exact out revenge on the Shinigami." The reiatsu vanished as the smoke cleared. Kuro fell to her knees, tears running down her face. Ichigo walked up behind Kuro and put a hand on Kuro's shoulder. Kuro let out a heart-wrenching scream.

_ISAMI!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

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_**Well, did you like it? That may have seemed to be incest. I haven't completely decided if it is yet, but it probably will be. Anyway, review. That's an order.**_


	13. Broken

_**Sorry I took so long. I've been sick and busy and stuff like that. Actually, I'm still sick. Oh well. I hope you enjoy.**_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Every time we set aside our pride  
We take a step closer to the beast  
Every time we kill an emotion  
We take a step away from the beast_

_-Bleach_

Kuro wasn't sure what had happened. She had been in the cave, and then she was waking up here with everyone around her bed. Rukia was saying something but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Because everything had been a lie. Hayate, the only person that had ever been nice to her when she was younger was a Shinigami. And he was _Isami_. And that meant that Isami had lied.

Someone helped her stand, then led her to a body. Her body. Kuro touched it and she melded with it. Kuro winced: she felt battered. The same person led her out of the shop and down the street to a large brick building. Kuro realized that it was the school.

When they reached the classroom, the teacher greeted them. "Hello, Kuro-san, Kuchiki-san. It's nice to _finally_ see you again. Did you do the extra work?" When Kuro didn't respond, the teacher smacked her in the head with a grading book. Kuro winced and kept her head bowed. She walked to her seat and sat down.

Class started. The teacher called on Kuro, but she didn't care. These people didn't matter. No one mattered. No one but Isami…and Ichigo. Kuro stared out the window. The clouds were like freedom, something that she didn't have.

"Kuro do you want to eat lunch with us?" At the sound of the familiar voice, Kuro looked up. Ichigo was standing in front of her. Kuro didn't know how to respond, what to respond. Instead she just looked back out the window.

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There were more noises. Kuro could hear them, but they were irrelevant. Kuro felt something running over her hand and warm liquid congregating on her palm. She didn't care. The pain was faint and numb. The liquid felt good and she let it run down her arm.

"What the hell are you doing, Kuro?" It was that familiar voice again. The voice was warm and calming. It reminded Kuro of sorrow, because for her, sorrow always came, whether it was after happiness or not. Sorrow was always there.

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Kuro felt something. Hunger. It was called hunger. Kuro ignored it: she didn't really care.

"Kuro, come on. You haven't come back to the shop in three weeks." Someone pulled her into standing position then let go. Kuro fell back into her seat. The person pulled her back up and slapped her in the face. Kuro gingerly touched her cheek where she had been hit. The person dropped her back into her seat. Kuro closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, Kuro. Please, come back with us. You haven't left that seat since you got back." It wasn't that familiar, important voice, so Kuro ignored the person. Then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and the reiatsu of the important person behind. Kuro stood up and hugged the person tightly. The person resisted only a little.

Ichigo wrapped his arms around Kuro and let her hug him. He didn't know why he was letting her, but he did. Ichigo appreciated what Kuro was going through more than anyone else. He too had suffered through being afraid of himself and his own power.

Finally Kuro released Ichigo and sat back down in her seat. She dropped her head on the table and fell asleep, her hair covering her face.

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"We need to do something, Ichigo. She hasn't left the school or really done anything since returning. Kuro looked like this was the first time she went to sleep and she doesn't really look like she's eaten." Rukia was shaking and her eyes were worried.

"I know. But what can we do? She won't even tell us what's wrong." Ichigo frowned as he watched Kuro from his seat. He and Rukia had decided to stay at the school that night and watch over Kuro. Ichigo's eyes widened. "There's a hollow. I'll go deal with it." Rukia nodded and he left.

"What's wrong, Kuro?" Rukia whispered.

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"Kuro-san, wake up," the teacher ordered. Kuro's head stayed on her desk and she didn't move. Fed up, the teacher threw a piece of chalk at Kuro. It bounced off of her head and Kuro didn't move. The teacher sighed and continued her class. Kuro opened her eyes.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream loud and hard, but she couldn't. If she did, she would make them look at her. She would make the liars look at her. She didn't want the liars to look at her or touch her or be near her. But they would be near her as long as she stayed here. She had to leave.

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Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, and Orihime were standing around Uryuu's desk, talking about Kuro. They were discussing what to do with her when they sensed her reiatsu behind them. It was weak, weaker even than Tatsuki's or Keigo's. In fact, Ichigo didn't sense it at all. He is, as has been noted on numerous occasions, bad at sensing reiatsu.

"A-A…ri…ga…t-to…" That sounded like Kuro's voice, but it couldn't be. She hadn't said anything since they had returned. They all looked at her. Kuro's hair covered her face but couldn't quite hide the tears streaming down from her closed eyes.

"Go-go…mena…sai…" That was definitely Kuro.

"Say…on…na…ra…"

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_**Well, that may have seemed OOC. Oh well. I'll try to post again soon. Don't you just feel so **_**sorry**_** for Kuro?**_

_**Anyway, review.**_


	14. Truth

_**OMG I am so sorry that took so long. I wrote most of it today, like just now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. And I am going to give something away for chapters to come: part of this will be in the Soul Society.**_

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_Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth._

_-Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle_

"Say…on…na…ra…" 

Kuro walked out of the classroom, the tears streaming from her eyes hidden by her bangs. Ichigo stood up and followed her, his brown eyes worried. When he got outside, he saw her shunpo away and, after discarding his gigai, followed her.

"Kurosaki, don't follow me. I need to do this alone." Ichigo shook his head as he shunpo'ed next to her.

"You don't need do this by yourself. I can help you, Kuro, no matter what you're doing. We all can. We're all your friends, Kuro. Trust us." Kuro shunpo'ed ahead of Ichigo, but he caught up quickly.

"You of all people know that it's better to leave your friends than to hurt them." Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. "I don't want to hurt you, Ichigo. This is my battle, not yours."

Tears streamed down Kuro's face as she continued to shunpo from tree to tree, heading out of Karakura town. She didn't bother to wipe them away or try to stop them.

Tears reminded her she was real.

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"That's a good girl. See the truth and join me. It's your destiny." Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around.

"Yes," he asked. His voice was quiet, but dangerous, like a snake stalking its prey.

"I do not mean to question you, master, but how so you plan to enter the Seireitei?"

He smiled; he was feeling generous. "I'm going to walk in."

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"Kuro, we've been doing this for hours. Where are we going?" Ichigo asked as they continued to shunpo between the trees, heading farther and farther from Karakura town.

"Suppress your reiatsu," Kuro ordered suddenly.

"What?"

"Suppress your reiatsu. He's tracking us." Ichigo complied and his reiatsu level dropped. "Good." Kuro stopped.

"I'm home."

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_**Flashback**_

_"Daddy, why do you look sad?" Oujou's father looked up from his hands on his lap that he had been staring at for the last ten minutes._

"_Nothing's wrong, sweetie. I'm just a little tired. Go and play with Mommy." Oujou shook her head._

"_Mommy's not here. She was here before, but she left. Why was Mommy wearing a black kimono?" His eyes widened a little and he held his head in his hands._

"_No. Oh God, no. Not her, too," he whispered. Raising his voice to its normal volume, he said, "Why don't you go play with Hayate? You should go play ball or something." Oujou nodded and walked over to the house next door. Before knocking on the door, though, she looked back at her father. He still had his head in his hands and his shoulders were shaking._

_**End of Flashback**_

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Oujou peered into the window of a white house before placing a lock pick in the lock on the door. Within thirty seconds, it was unlocked. Oujou turned the knob and pushed open the door.

"He's not here. We should hurry though. There's something I need to find out, and if it's true, we don't want to be here when he gets back." Ichigo nodded and the two of them walked in, shutting the door behind them.

Kuro walked up the stairs to a room with a closed door. Opening the door, she slipped in. Ichigo followed. Kuro pulled out a few of the desk drawers before she seemed to find what she was looking for. She pulled out a file and opened it on the desk. Inside it were five pieces of paper. When she lifted up the first one, a strangled cry rose up her throat. Hastily putting it down, she spread the others over the desk.

Ichigo walked over and looked over her shoulder at them. They were birth and death certificates. The first one read "Death Certificate" and was labeled with the name "Kuro Osore". The other death certificates read "Kuro Yaiba" and "Hayao Kuro". There were two birth certificates. They were labeled "Kuro Osore" and "Kuro Hayate". Ichigo gasped.

"He was telling the truth…"

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_**I am really sorry that that took so long. Anyway, review and hopefully next time it won't take so long to post.**_


	15. Nothing but Pain

_**OK, I kinda made up this chapter and it wasn't originally in the story. 'Cause I made up this story over a year ago and just started typing it, like, 4 months ago. Anyway, hope you like it.**_

_Everything you once knew is gone. Your life is nothing. You are nothing. So do you exist? Are you real? Are you human?_

_ He was telling the truth…_

The two of them heard a door opening downstairs, followed by the sound of a door closing and footsteps coming closer. Kuro swore under her breath and glanced back down at the desk, unsure of what to do.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "It's still here." Ichigo glanced at where she was looking. A small black candle was sitting on a shelf. Kuro looked up at Ichigo, then grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a tall black-haired man standing in the doorway. He gasped.

"Osore," he whispered, "You're here. You came back. Oh my god. Osore!" The man ran over and hugged Kuro, whose only response was the slight widening of her eyes.

"Otou-san…" Kuro broke away. Her voice was suddenly angry. "You lied. You were a Shinigami too, weren't you? Why? Why did you lie?" Kuro's father bit his lip and looked down.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to. You weren't supposed to find out at all." Kuro's expression hardened and she grabbed Ichigo's arm again, dragging him out of the room. They could both hear her father calling for her, but Kuro just kept on moving, going forward.

Outside it was raining and miserable. Kuro and Ichigo shunpoe'd out of the town and continued back to Karakura Town. It took five hours, an hour longer than the original trip, but this time they were silent, each concentrating on their own thoughts.

When the two of them reached Karakura Town, they were drenched and cold. Kuro parted with Ichigo and went directly to Urahara's shop, where she was greeted by a furious Rukia.

"Where the hell were you?" Kuro shoved past Rukia and entered the shop.

"Shut up. I really can't do this right now." Rukia walked over to Kuro and touched her on the shoulder. Kuro looked over before her eyes closed and she collapsed on top of Rukia. Rukia crawled out from underneath her and checked her temperature. Just from a momentary touch Rukia could tell that Kuro had a high temperature.

"Idiot." 

* * *

Ichigo walked into the Urahara Shouten, spotted Rukia lying on the floor reading a magazine, and walked over to her.

"Why weren't you or Kuro at school today? Where _is_ Kuro, anyway?" Rukia pointed to one of the many doors and placed a finger to her lips.

"She's asleep." Ichigo opened the door and walked into Kuro's room. Inside, she was lying on a futon, her face pale and sweating.

"What's wrong?" Rukia started to walk over.

Kuro's voice halted her. "I'm sick. Go away, Kurosaki." Ichigo shook his head and walked over. Rukia smiled and closed the sliding door.

"I'm serious, Kurosaki. You need to get out of here. I'm—" Kuro broke off coughing. Ichigo could feel her reiatsu rising rapidly and moved to comfort her.

"What's going on?"

"She lost control of her reiatsu an hour ago." Ichigo spun around. Urahara was standing in the doorway, his hat shadowing his eyes. "You should go back to sleep, Kuro-san."

"Or I could give you some excellent medicine I have." Kuro and Urahara both turned to Tessai with equal looks of horror.

Ichigo, noticing their expressions, asked, "What's wrong with that?"

Kuro winced. "Don't ask."

Ichigo nodded and sat down next to Kuro's futon. Kuro made a face and looked away.

"You don't listen, do you, Kurosaki?" Ichigo shook his head sheepishly and Kuro groaned. "Fine. You can stay here. But if my reiastu rises too much, leave."

Kuro started coughing violently and curled in on herself. Slowly easing her body into a slightly more comfortable position, she fell asleep. 

* * *

Kuro opened her eyes a little. Ichigo wasn't next to her. Ok. Now she could leave. It didn't matter that she was sick. It didn't.

Kuro stood up, a tad shakily, I may add, and started to walk towards the door. Well, attempt to walk was a better way of saying it. She walked about six steps before collapsing, falling backwards. She closed her eyes and braced for impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes slightly, she saw Ichigo's scowling face a few inched above hers.

Carefully, he lowered her back onto the futon.

"Um…" she mumbled awkwardly. "Arigato. Um…I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Now shut up and go back to sleep."

Shaking her head, Kuro sat up. "No. What if more hollows come? What if my brother comes?"

"Then I'll deal with it. Go. To. Sleep." Ichigo pushed her down to a laying-down position (heh heh…didn't know how to word that).

Kuro opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and closed her eyes. Sighing, she continued to feel Ichigo's reiatsu right next to her.

Warm darkness engulfed her and she submitted obediently to it.

* * *

There was a flash of black. Hayate stood above Kuro, staring down at her sleeping face.

He knelt down and leaned forward.

Silently, he kissed her on the lips.

He vanished.

"Brother"

_**Mwahahahaha. OK. I'll try to post again soon, but no guarantees. Please review.**_


	16. The Plan

_**Sorry that took so long. I've been writing this other story and haven't really gotten that much time to work on this. I apologize in advance if it isn't great.**_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_We think a flower on a cliff is beautiful  
because we stop our feet at the cliff's edge,  
unable to step out into the sky  
like that fearless flower._

_-Bleach_

"What the hell is that bastard thinking of doing?" Ichigo sat down from his pacing, only to jump back up and resume it a minute later.

Kuro scowled at him. "I would prefer that you didn't call my brother a bastard. _And will you please sit down?!_" Ichigo swallowed hard and sat down at the table again.

"Sorry. Do you think that he's going to use that gate thing to get to the Soul Society?"

Rukia smirked at Ichigo and said, "Wow, for once you have a good idea. That would be one of the only ways for him to get in undetected."

"No." They all looked at Kuro. "That isn't how he's going to get in. He's going to walk in."

"What're you talking about? How can he just walk in?"

"Here's the deal."

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_Flashback_

"_Osore-chan, Osore-chan, come play with me!" An eight-year-old Kuro ran over to Hayate._

"_What do you want to play?" Hayate put a finger to his lips, then pulled her around to the back of his house._

"_I need to talk to you. There's something wrong with me."_

"_What're you talking about? There's nothing—"_

_Hayate placed a finger to her lips, then pulled her to the ground across from him. Speaking softly, he said, "I see things that I shouldn't. I hear things that others don't. THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME!" Kuro laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, feeling a little guilty for not telling him about what she saw, what she knew. "And there's this place, that you can only get through using a door and a butterfly. But I can't get in. Other people wearing black kimonos can, though. Have you seen it?"_

"_I—"_

"_Hayate-kun, Osore-chan, where are you?" Kuro and Hayate looked up, then they both stood up simultaneously._

"_I will get in," he whispered. "I'm going to go through one of those doors on my own. I promise."_

_And together they walked out from behind the house._

_End of Flashback_

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"I should have seen this coming. He told me that he could see them a long time ago, and I knew what he was talking about." Kuro swore, stood up, and took up pacing.

"It's alright. But that still doesn't tell us how he's going to get in." Kuro bit her lip, then froze.

Kuro sat down slowly. "Are there any Shinigami trying to get him right now?"

"Yeah. Hitsugaya-taichou's team. Why?"

Kuro swore vividly. "You need to tell them to stop, Rukia. I'm serious. Now."

Ichigo frowned. "Why?"

"He's going to be taken into custody and then escape once in the Soul Society." Rukia opened her mouth to protest, but Kuro cut her off. "He _is_ strong enough to do that."

"There's a problem, then." Kuro looked at Rukia, her eyes widening in horror.

"Oh my god…goddamn it. He knew that we couldn't…"

"What?"

"Rukia can't tell them to stop searching for him. Then she would have to tell them about me."

Ichigo frowned again and raised an eyebrow. "So?"

Kuro's reiatsu immediately began rising, higher and higher, weighing them down. "_So? SO?_ I CANNOT go back there! That was hell the first time! I won't survive another time! I…I'll go insane." Her voice trailed off and her reiatsu level slowly began to decline. "I'll go insane…"

Her mind returned to that time, long ago, that voice, telling her to calm down. _"You need to stop getting angry. If you keep on getting mad, you're going to go crazy. Just make sure you stay calm and you'll be alright."_

"He knew." She spoke with absolute certainty.

Rukia looked up with concern. "Who knew what?"

"Isami knew that…he knew that we would go insane. The disease—it's driving us insane." Rukia and Ichigo stared at Kuro, partly in amazement, partly in horror.

"Are…are you sure? I mean…"

Kuro nodded solemnly. "I'm sure." She stood up and walked out of the room. "Don't follow me. I need to go somewhere. Alone." And with that she left the building.

Rukia and Ichigo sat there at Urahara's table, feeling her reiatsu fade. Feeling her go.

Rukia smiled.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hate this. I hate this goddamn world. I'm sorry, Okaa-san. You were always there for me, saving me, but now I can't even save the ones I care about. I can't even save Hayate." Kuro knelt down beside her mother's grave and closed her eyes, not able to keep the hot tears from running down her pale face. Angrily, she brushed her tears off of her cheeks, only to have them be replaced by more a minute later.

There was a cool rush of wind and Kuro looked up. She could see Hayate's dark silhouette on the nearest tree branch, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter that he was here. He had every right to be here. It was his mother's grave, too.

Hayate disappeared and reappeared next to Kuro. "Why are you crying, dear sister? You are much to beautiful to cry." Gently, he wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

"Go away, Hayate," she muttered darkly.

"Don't be so angry, Osore. It's unbecoming of you." Osore closed her eyes again. "I'm not going to attack you. I don't wish for you to get injured. I simply want you as my own." He caressed her temple tenderly, then he was gone.

Kuro burst in to silent tears and bowed her head, letting the tears fall down to her lap. Her reiatsu spread out, encompassing the area. She raised her head to scream, but all was silent.

All was calm.

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Rukia and Ichigo started to get up, but were shoved back down as if by an invisible hand.

"That's Kuro's," Ichigo croaked. Rukia nodded with difficulty and tried fruitlessly to get back up.

"But…where is she?" Ichigo shrugged as he also tried to stand up. It didn't work. Standing up, that is.

The pressure grew more and more, until it felt like they each had a ten ton weight on top of them.

And it was all Kuro's.

And it was from almost five miles away.

It was impossible.

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_**Well, how was it. I mean it. Tell me. Now. NOW!!!!**_

_**Sorry. My evil side was coming out again. She likes chocolate. And stories. And manga. And anime.**_

_**Hey, that's like me! Would ya look at that?**_

_**Anyway, as I was trying to say before, please review.**_

_**MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_


	17. Always, Never

_**So sorry; I had writer's block. It was incredibly annoying. Oh yeah, I'm now thirteen. Since the ninth. Anyway, please enjoy.**_

* * *

_People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that's bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they're afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you're letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain._

_-Jim Morrison_

There was a roar and Kuro looked up. A massive hollow was flying at her, its teeth bared in a horrifying snarl. Kuro leapt back automatically and drew her sword, steadying herself on top of a large tree branch—the one Hayate had been standing on just a few minutes before.

There was a reiatsu spike behind her and she spun around. A hollow was behind her as well, grinning at her. Kuro swung her sword at the hollow, but it jumped out of the way, floating in the air just out of her reach.

Kuro made no move to attack it.

More hollows began to appear and soon she was surrounded. But she still didn't attack them.

And then she did something that nobody would expect her to do: she smiled.

One of the hollows—a more humanoid one—stepped—floated?—up to her and said, in a guttural tone, "Kuro-dono wishes to speak with Kuro-hime-sama face-to-face. Kuro-hime-sama is to come with us."

Kuro raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "And if I say no?"

"Then I will have to take you by force." Kuro spun around; her brother was standing behind her, smirking.

Kuro frowned. "You're not taking me. You _can't _take me."

Hayate took a step towards her in the air. "You're not strong enough to stop me, my dear sister."

Now it was Kuro's turn to smirk. "That's where you're wrong. I have something to protect. I will never let you hurt my friends. Any of them."

Hayate was at Kuro's side in a flash, his hand gently caressing her cheek. She flinched away from his touch instinctively. "Do you think that I don't have something to protect?" She gasped softly. "But I won't hurt your friends; I have no need to, as long as they stay out of my way."

"Rukia's my friend, too," she whispered.

Hayate's expression hardened. "Then I guess I will have to hurt your friends." Kuro narrowed her eyes, then vanished.

"They broke you, my dearest Osore. They deserve to be broken."

* * *

Kuro pulled open the sliding door to Urahara's shop angrily and walked inside, shoving it closed. Ichigo and Rukia were sitting at the table, their expressions pained.

"What the hell was that?" Rukia demanded.

Kuro frowned. "I lost control for a minute. Sorry."

"_Lost control?!_ You must've been five miles away and we couldn't move! What the hell was going on?"

Closing her eyes, Kuro leaned against the wall. "I met Hayate. Twice." Rukia gasped. "I think I figured out why he's doing this."

Ichigo and Rukia stared at her like she was crazy. "I thought we already established that he was doing it because he hates the Soul Society."

Kuro shook her head, her long black hair brushing her shoulders lightly. "We were wrong. He's doing this—all of this—because of me."

Rukia opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by her cell phone, which chose that moment to ring. Sighing, she flipped it open and pressed it to her ear. Rukia listened for a minute to the person at the other end, then swore, shutting the phone with a twist of her fingers. Kuro raised an eyebrow.

"They got him."

* * *

"Yamamoto-sou-taichou, we have apprehended him." Yamamoto looked up from his unlimited pile of paperwork, a permanent from on his lips.

"That was fast."

The messenger bowed. "Yes, sir."

"He gave in too easily," Yamamoto's lieutenant pointed out. Yamamoto nodded.

"Bring him in, but put him immediately in a Sekiseki-lined holding cell. We can't risk anything." The messenger nodded and vanished. The lieutenant turned to Yamamoto.

He spoke quietly, like he was trying to keep the non-existent people in the room from hearing. "He's planning something."

Yamamoto agreed, "Yes, he is. But we can't let him roam the real world. Even with only ten Captains, we can handle him."

The lieutenant nodded grudgingly. "We have to."

* * *

"Move it, kid," a guard snarled at Hayate, who was walking calmly towards the doorway to the Soul Society, showing no fear, despite the shackles on his wrists and the swords pressed to his throat from two directions.

One of the other guards smacked the first in the arm. "Don't you know who this is? He broke out of the Soul Society using only his shikai."

The first guard rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," he scoffed. "He's just a kid."

"Just shut up, you idiot." Hayate closed his eyes and smiled slightly, although it held no mirth, only faint disgust.

**_One last time, he thought._**

* * *

**_Please, oh please, review. I'm really sorry—I've just been so busy. I will try to post again. I think I'm just about over my writer's block._**


	18. Years Past

_**Hello, there. Sorry this took so long, but it was hard to write. This wasn't completely necessary, but I thought it would be cool. I'll give you a hint: this is why Hitsugaya hates her so much.**_

--

_"Do not attempt to change the past, but instead attempt to make the future"_

_-Gen. Teofisto Gaurano_

Five years ago…

Well, it hurt again. That wasn't new. Maybe soon Mayuri would get bored of them and send them back. Or kill them. It didn't matter anymore.

Oh. The pain was gone.

"It's over, Osore," a voice murmured from next to her. Kuro pried her eyes open and waited for someone to undo her bonds so she could get up. It got rather monotonous after years of the same thing; everyday at five a.m., she and Isami would be taken from their holding cell and brought to one of Mayuri's labs, where they would be experimented on for the next ten or so hours.

They would get a break once a month. Isami was forced to stay in the holding cell—he was "more dangerous"—but Kuro got to wander the Seireitei. That was where she had met Rukia.

"Come on, Osore," Isami ordered—said?—softly. Kuro realized that her bonds had been undone, so she sat up on the metal…table, and then stood up, walking with Isami—and the two guards in front of and behind them—back to the holding cell.

Her entire body felt battered and bruised, not that that wasn't normal. Kuro had bruises all over most of her body, most centered on her arms. They were from needles, swords, other sharp, pointy, hard things, some not so sharp or pointy hard things…. Well, a whole list of things, really.

Isami touched Kuro's elbow and she looked up, realizing that they were at the cell. She flushed slightly and followed Isami inside. The door was locked behind them, like always.

Isami took his normal place on the floor next to one of the bunk bed-cots and Kuro took her normal spot next to him. Isami gently wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. Kuro looked up at him and dull surprise—she was too blank to feel anything more than that.

"It's just like every other day, isn't it," Isami murmured, his mouth an inch from her ear. Kuro nodded.

"Do you think they're going to let us go soon?" she asked, her head bowed and her knotted hair falling in front of her face.

Kuro felt Isami shake his head. "No. They're never letting us go. I'm sorry, Osore." Kuro nodded. "I wish I could do something for you. I mean, you're only ten, but you have to go through this."

Frowning slightly, Kuro asked, "How old are you, Isami? You never told me."

Isami hesitated for a second. "Seventeen," he answered finally. Kuro nodded again.

The door of the cell opened and the two of them shot apart. Well, it was more like Kuro shot away from Isami, her head still bowed, plucking at her fraying, too-short sleeve.

"Come with me, girl," the person ordered. Kuro looked up, her eyes almost a little more surprised than when Isami had hugged her.

Isami was the one that responded to the man. "What do you want with her?" he demanded. Kuro's head whipped around and she stared at him.

The guard walked forward, entering the cell. "Shut up," he snarled. "Come on, get up, girl." Kuro stood up and, shooting one last glance at Isami, she followed the guard out of the cell. The two of them walked down the hallway in silence.

Finally, Kuro worked up the nerve to ask, "Where am I going?"

The guard didn't turn around to look at her when he answered. "You're going to be fighting Hitsugaya-taichou." Kuro's eyes widened and she slowed down almost instinctively, trailing behind the guard, trying to lengthen the time before the inevitable.

Still not meeting her eyes, the guard grabbed Kuro's upper arm and pulled her forcibly—but not painfully—down towards one of the indoor training centers. Kuro randomly felt a surge of incredibility—were they stupid? I mean, they were going to make them fight _indoors_.

Once inside, Kuro was given her sword and shoved towards the center of the floor, where Hitsugaya was waiting. Kuro could practically feel emotions rolling off of his cool mask in waves; there was anger, impatience, and…pity.

All of the captains were there, along with most of the lieutenants. Mayuri was holding some odd device that loosely resembled a GPS; they all had their zanpakutōs. Kuro swallowed nervously and grabbed the hilt of her sword with both hands.

"Begin," Yamamoto barked.

They both used shikai at the same time; Hitsugaya shouted his zanpakutō's name, Kuro murmured hers. And then they both disappeared.

To the on looking Shinigami, they were only blurs; only a few could discern their movements. The two Shinigami, each small and childlike, attacked each other with great ferocity. Kuro had blood running down both of her arms and her hands were shaking as they gripped her sword. Hitsugaya's hair was matted with blood that had run into his left eye.

They paused for a second and Kuro looked down, her expression almost ashamed. Then she whispered, "Bankai." The eyes of every person in the room widened and Hitsugaya swore under his breath.

A huge black dragon burst out of her sword and broke away from her, flying beside her as she floated on the air. Kuro's sword reverted back to its normal state—a thin black katana. And then she looked up, and her eyes were pure white.

Mayuri gleefully—although that's hard to tell because of his mask—tapped on his device, his pointy nail stabbing the touch screen eagerly. Hitsugaya readied himself, but he wasn't fast enough; Kuro flew at him, her expression completely blank, and attacked, her dragon biting into him from behind.

He couldn't escape.

The dragon's teeth bit through Hitsugaya's shoulder, nearly biting it off. At the same time, Kuro's sword stabbed through his abdomen, drawing a flood of blood. Crimson droplets splattered on her Kuro's face and her eyes widened, the irises and pupils returning.

She swore the way that no ten-year-old should.

Without seeming to know what she was doing, Kuro threw her arms around the already-unconscious Hitsugaya and hugged him fiercely, tears streaming down her face in never ending rivulets.

Her eyes closed and she dropped away from Hitsugaya—who was immediately caught and taken away by a medical team—her arms still in front of her as she plummeted towards the cracked and burnt ground.

As her head cracked against the hard floor and everything started to fade, an errant thought passed through her mind.

_I'm a murderer._

--

**_So, did you like it? I'll go back to the plot next time. I just thought it would be interesting, seeing Kuro when she was younger. This was the first time that she used Bankai. She had figured out how to in the Bankai training she had been forced to do, but she purposely hid it, just so they wouldn't find out._**

_**Please review. I'll get all depressed if you don't. :(**_


	19. Never Again

**_God, I'm sorry. That took WAY too long. I was just stuck and I…well, I was just having so much trouble writing it. I also had state testing, but that's no excuse. That, if anything, should have given me more time, because I didn't have homework. Again, I'm really sorry._**

**_I wrote most of this today, so if it sucks, I'm sorry for that, too._**

--

_When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice._

_-Kabir_

Kuro frowned, her eyes closing. "This is it," she murmured. "Now we're either going to win or lose, and someone's not going to walk away from this." Looking agitated, she pressed her fingers to her eyelids, then dropped her hand back to her side. "God, this is screwy."

Urahara walked into the room, twirling his cane in one hand. "We can have the gate ready by tomorrow." Kuro nodded.

Kuro then turned to the rest of the people in the room (Ichigo and Rukia), and said, "I can't go with you guys."

Ichigo frowned. "Why not?" he demanded, his voice rising in volume.

Kuro closed her eyes and bowed her head, hesitating for a moment. And then she looked back up again and her pitch-black eyes were as blank as the first time Ichigo met her. Speaking in a blank monotone, she explained, "If I go back, I won't be able to keep myself under control. I could end up killing any of you at any time."

Rukia frowned, seeming to contemplate something, and then she said, "We need you, Kuro. Nobody else can beat your brother."

Kuro clenched her teeth, suddenly furious. "This isn't some game, Rukia. I'm strong enough to kill any of you, and if I lose control, you won't be able to stop me. I can't go." Abruptly, she looked down, closing her eyes tightly.

Ichigo grimaced. "You have to come to the Soul Society. Don't you want to stop your brother?"

Kuro looked up at him after a moment of silence. "Honestly," she whispered, "I'm not sure anymore." She stared past him, at the wall behind where he was sitting; he had leapt to his feet some time ago. "This is my fight, my battle, but I can't fight it. Not without hurting those I care about. I can't do this, Ichigo. I'm sorry."

Ichigo and Rukia stared at her in amazement, and she continued to simply stare past them for a moment; finally, she turned away and stalked out of the shop. Urahara sighed and quietly slipped out of the room, leaving the others to their thoughts.

After a moment, Rukia turned to Ichigo. "Go after her and convince her to come with us."

"Why—"

"Go." The word was forceful and Ichigo, grimacing at the angry and incredibly frustrated expression on Rukia's face, sighed and walked out of the shop, going in the same direction that Kuro had.

Rukia watched him walk out of the room, then sank back to the floor and pulled out her cell phone, fiddling with it once more.

A few minutes later, Ichigo found Kuro, who was sitting under a tree, her eyes closed, her fingers absentmindedly stroking her long, thin, shining black katana. Without looking up, she said, "I already told you I can't go, Kurosaki. Go away. This isn't your battle."

"Like hell it isn't," he muttered, sitting down next to her in the shade of the tree. The weeping willow.

--

**_Flashback_**

_Kuro sat below a weeping willow, her head leaned back against the rough bark of the tree; to the outside observer it may look like she was sleeping. She wasn't. Kuro barely slept anymore, electing to instead wait below the weeping willow that so reminded her of her deceased mother and stare at the river below her._

_Scarred both emotionally and physically, Kuro was pale and thin, barely a hundred pounds at the age of fourteen. She always wore long-sleeve shirts, and they were always black, even though the school uniform was gray and green. Her eyes bore the telltale signs of little to no sleep—they were not from black eyes, as nobody would mess with her. She was dangerous, and everyone could feel it, even if they didn't know why._

"_Are you alright?" a voice asked. Kuro opened her eyes slightly and stared at the person in front of her—it was a boy from her class; he had short dark brown hair and warm, kind eyes. Not dangerous. Kuro nodded, then closed her eyes again. But the boy persisted. "I see you here every day. Why do you always sit here, all alone?"_

_Kuro was amazed by the boy's audacity—most of her classmates were too afraid to speak to her—so she decided to answer. Not completely truthfully, though. "I wait here for my mother."_

_The boy blinked; he was obviously surprised. "Oh. Okay. I was just wondering. Sorry." Kuro nodded, her eyes still closed. She listened to the boy walk away quickly, then join his friends, who immediately began pestering him with questions about the elusive and mysterious _Kuro Osore_._

_Kuro was waiting for her mother, and that was why she waited there every day. Her mother was never coming._

_And so Kuro was never leaving._

**_End of Flashback_**

--

"There's something I want to show you," Kuro announced after a few minutes of calm silence—it wasn't awkward silence, but thoughtful silence, but it was still relieving for it to be broken. For Ichigo, at least.

Ichigo waited for Kuro to show him whatever it was that she wanted to show him, but she hesitated for a moment. Then she carefully pulled her left sleeve up and held her arm out for Ichigo to examine it. He did. And then he swore. Loudly.

"What the hell are those?" he demanded. Loudly. Kuro rolled her sleeve back down, then leaned back against the tree.

"They're scars."

Ichigo groaned. "I know they're scars," he said scathingly. "Where did you get them?"

"Your Soul Society friends aren't as godly and perfect as you think they are," Kuro answered. That wasn't the answer, and she knew it.

"I don't think they're—"

Kuro cut Ichigo off. "Of course you don't," she interrupted sarcastically. "Why the hell would you help them if you didn't look to them? Look; I was there for five years. Five goddamn years of my life. I saw everything that happens there. I was nine when I got those scars."

Then she pulled her other sleeve up, and on her right arm was a scar that perfectly matched the longest one on her left arm. Both scars were long and thick, rough and pink as though they hadn't healed right. They ran down the length of her arms, from her shoulders to her wrists. And both were perfectly straight, as if someone had sliced them open.

"Yeah," she said a second later. Ichigo jumped. "They did this. Mayuri-_taichou_ decided to cut my arms open. _Genius_," she muttered sarcastically.

Ichigo stared at her in horror for a while, until she looked up at him and asked, "What?"

"N-Nothing," he stammered quickly.

Kuro rolled her eyes, then said, "Now you see why I can't go back. If I saw Mayuri, or Kuchiki, or possibly even Hitsugaya, I wouldn't be able to stop myself. Before, maybe I could have helped you in this fight, but not now and not anymore."

"I believe in you." Kuro looked up in surprise; even Ichigo looked surprised at having said that.

"What?"

Ichigo hesitated before saying again, "I believe in you. I think that you can go without losing control." He paused. "I could," he added quietly.

_Oh, how I wish I could believe you._

--

**_Well, how was it? Please review and tell me what you think. I really hope that next time it won't take that long, but no guarantees. Sorry._**


	20. The First Time

_**Hello. I know, I know, I took a long time to post. This chapter is told in first person because I started writing it and then I realized that it was in first person. The entire thing is a flashback.**_

_--_

_Fate steals along with silent tread,  
Found oftenest in what least we dread,  
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,  
But in the sunshine strikes the blow._

_-William Cowper_

"Osore-chan," my mother called from inside, "Osore-chan, honey, come inside. It's getting dark." I turned around, smiling slightly, and began to plod slowly towards the door of my house. Suddenly, I heard a noise, almost like a door sliding open, and then a wave of pure, furious reiatsu hit me, knocking me to the ground. I gasped for breath, trying to turn over to see who was creating such a large amount of reiatsu, but I couldn't. All I could see was my mother, her eyes wide and fearful—why was she so afraid?—rushing out of the house. She crouched down next to me, looking like she on the verge of tears, and she glared furiously at the people behind me.

Finally, I mustered the strength to roll over and sit up. Facing the two of us were five Shinigami. I could tell immediately that the two standing in the middle were the strongest, although the other three were also stronger than all of the Hollows my mother had fought.

"What do you want?" my mother hissed, her voice completely changed from just a moment ago.

The man in the middle—he was tall, with shoulder-length black hair, a white scarf around his neck, a kenseikan, and a white haori—took a step forward. "You have fled from the Soul Society and disgraced all Shinigami, most especially the tenth division." The other especially strong Shinigami—a short, white-haired boy with icy green eyes—glared at him, looking annoyed.

My mother bit her lip and stood up, walking around me to stand protectively in front of me. It was then that I noticed that she had turned into a Shinigami. Silently and as fast as lightning, she pulled out her sword, all white and shining. All of the other Shinigami drew their swords, holding them out in front of them.

I struggled to sit up, so I could help my mother, but she shook her head. Instead, I just moved back until I was far enough away that I could still hear, but I wouldn't get in the way.

"You have no idea what you're doing," my mother murmured. Another Shinigami, with pineapple-shaped red—red-red—hair, snickered and smirked at her.

He stepped forward, shouting, "_H__oero, Zabimaru_." Then he laughed and said, "You don't know what _you_'re doing."

The white-haired boy pulled out his sword and vanished, reappearing next to my mother, who then vanished. The black-haired man disappeared as well; I stood up and pulled the pill container out of my pocket, taking one out and swallowing it. I felt myself fall out of my body, and I pulled out my sword, ready to help fight the new Shinigami.

This was better—now I could actually _see_ their fight, as opposed to before, when I could only hear it and hope it didn't get to close to me.

As I was about to move to fight one of the other, stationary Shinigami, a hand closed on my mouth and another wound around my stomach, pressing me against the large body behind me. "Don't struggle. I don't want to hurt you." It was a woman's voice, younger than my mother's, soft but not especially soothing.

I bit down on her hand and she withdrew the one covering my mouth with a hiss of pain, but her grip around my stomach only tightened. "What do you want with Okaa-san?" I demanded in a whisper.

"Damn," the Shinigami muttered, "She's your mother." I nodded. "Damn," she muttered again.

Then she turned me around so I could face her. She still held me tightly enough that I couldn't escape, and now she pressed me right below her…eh…_ample_ bosom—I was only that tall. "Get off of me," I yelled—really, I tried to; she was just squishing me too hard. It ended up coming out as a muffled squeak.

And then I realized she was shielding me from seeing what was going on. I tried harder to push away, and finally I turned around enough to see what was going on.

My mother was losing.

That was how it was, plain and simple. She was strong, so, so strong, but it was four against one. Her.

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered, and my voice was lost in the wind and in the noise created by their swords clanging together. I turned to face the lady holding me back and, mustering up all of the fury of my nine years, demanded, "Why are you people doing this?"

The lady looked sympathetic, but not like she was going to get them to stop, to leave and never come back and bother us again.

Finally, I snapped. Jerking my zanpakuto up, I felt my reiatsu rise, going up as high as some of the other Shinigami—higher than it ever had been before. The woman stared at me, and the others seemed to pause for a moment—even my mother, although she recognized it sooner than the others. Quick as a bird, she was next to me, trying to calm me, to keep me under control.

One of the other Shinigami took a step towards me and she turned to stare at them. "Stay away from my daughter," she ordered quietly. "Leave her out of this."

"I'm alright," I whispered. Gripping my zanpakuto tighter in my hand, I smiled a wide, dark smile. I was stronger than them. I could beat them.

"Leave it be," she snapped. I tried to turn to face her, to see that she was being serious, but my body wouldn't let me. I was already too far gone.

Reiatsu rose from my sword, from my body—from _me—_and I smiled, enjoying the sensation of this power, this strength. "Go away," I whispered. "Go away."

They stared at me from a moment, startled and amazed and confused all at the same time. And then the white-haired boy shunpo'd to where I was and slashed his sword at my side. I blocked, our swords flashing, and then I attacked back, driving him towards the house.

He had threatened my mother. He deserved to die.

"Osore, STOP IT!" my mother shouted. I froze for a moment, and she shunpo'd in front of me, meeting the boy's sword with her own.

I took a step back, and two sets of hands grabbed me, holding me back. I fought against them, but my rage-induced power was waning, and they were too strong.

My mother fought the white-haired boy and when it seemed like he was losing, the black-haired man joined the fight again.

Again I had to face the facts: my mother was dying. She wasn't going to walk out of this battle unscathed. I struggled weakly against the hands holding me, barely noticing the tears streaming down my face.

A few droplets of blood splattered onto my face and I flinched; my mother had been stabbed in the side, barely six inches below her heart. She sagged as the sword was pulled out of her, and then she fell to the ground, bleeding.

"Okaa-san," I shouted, the tears running down my face harder than ever. The hands' grips loosened and I pulled away, running over to my mother, who was kneeling on the grass, her sword planted in the ground to keep her from falling over completely.

She smiled up at me, her lips coated with her own blood. "It's…alright, Osore-chan. This isn't the first…time I died. Just…remember to…keep your temper and… tell your father that…it isn't his fault…" Her voice faded to a faint whisper as she smiled up at me one last time, blood still trickling out from her mouth.

There was silence for a moment as hot tears ran down my cheek and onto her bloody cheeks. Carefully, I laid her on the ground, placing her beautiful, bloodstained sword next to her. And then I turned to face the Shinigami; I was shaking.

"Come on," the boy ordered sharply. I stared at him dumbly; what was he talking about? Someone behind me pushed me forward and I stumbled, almost falling over. Where were they taking me? "Come on," he ordered again, sounding annoyed.

Another male, with odd blond hair, grabbed my zanpakuto, while the lady who had held me back before began pushing me gently—but firmly—towards an open doorway, which had just appeared out of midair.

The red-haired person had disappeared—into the gate, I assumed. This was the gate that Hayate had told me about, I realized. It was this gate, and the butterfly that the white-haired boy had on his fingertip was the butterfly needed to get through.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, this time out loud. Nobody answered. Maybe they hadn't heard me. "Where are you taking me?" I repeated, louder. No answer.

And then we passed through the doorway and stepped into a city. The lady continued to push me. Somewhere. That was all I knew—we were going somewhere.

It was my fault—I had gotten involved, and now my mother was dead and I was here, in this place, a world away from home.

It's funny how the price is paid.

--

_Kenseikan-Byakuya's headpiece  
_

_**Hello again. This is my last post for three weeks. After that I will try to post as much as possible, because I will have three weeks to write (even though I won't really have access to computers.) Anyway, see you then.**_


	21. Going Back

_**Well, that was a really, really hard chapter to write, and I have been stalling (in case you haven't noticed from the number of flashback chapters I've had (2)) but here it is. Hope you like it.**_

_--_

_"Understand Death? Sure. That was when the monsters got you."  
-Mark Petrie; Stephen King, Salem's Lot, page 139_

"We have the gate ready," Urahara told Kuro, twirling his cane in his hand. "You need to decide if you're coming."

She glanced at Ichigo, who was involved in a heated conversation with Rukia over…rabbits. "I'm going." She pulled out her zanpakuto and ran one long, thin finger over it. Her reiatsu jumped for a moment—though not nearly as high as when she lost control—before she sighed and it faded back to normal.

They all stared at her as she pocketed her zanpakuto once again. "What did you do?" Rukia asked.

Kuro smiled wanly, staring down at the hilt of her sword. "I was trying to put some of my reiatsu into my zanpakuto, so if I lost control, I wouldn't be as strong. It didn't work. I never has."

"Never?" Rukia asked. "What happened the other times?"

Kuro looked up, a sad, defeated sort of light in her eyes. "I lost control." They all nodded, like they understood, but they didn't; she could tell.

"It's time to go." They all looked over at Urahara, who had just spoken. "Get ready."

Kuro, Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Ishida, and Orihime lined up—the other Shinigami had left already—as Yoruichi stepped in front of them.

"You have gotten permission to go through and will be allowed directly into the Seireitei. Be prepared to fight as soon as you get in there."

"Don't attack my brother." Startled, everyone looked at Kuro. "He shouldn't attack you if you leave him alone. I'm going to fight him. Don't try to help me, or stop him. You will die—either of us could kill you easily."

There was silence for a moment, and then Yoruichi sighed. "Very well."

Everyone waited as Yoruichi and Urahara opened the gate, and then the six of them hurried into it before it could close on them. Kuro was last, and she seemed happy—as happy as she ever was—with that face; this way, she didn't have to see everyone's face when they stepped into the Soul Society and saw the devastation caused by her brother.

"It's like last time," Ishida announced suddenly from his square, flat hover board of sorts. "We're all going to save the Soul Society." And then he glanced behind them and said, "But this time Kuro-san's with us."

Kuro inclined her head as a form of acceptance but otherwise made no move to join in the conversation. A few moments later the six of them entered the Soul Society, standing on the roof of a building as the hole behind them closed. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto stood in front of them, hands of hilts of their zanpakutos.

"The prisoner"—Hitsugaya shot a pointed glance at Kuro—"has escaped. He has called up innumerable Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde."

"Taichou," Rukia began tentatively, "Why can't you just block out the hollows?"

Hitsugaya now looked past frustrated—he was pissed off. "He's too strong."

"How is he controlling them?" Ishida muttered to himself.

Kuro surprised everyone by answering, "He's not. Not exactly. They all want revenge against the Shinigami that have been killing and oppressing them. He's given them a way to get that. They're following him. He isn't controlling them."

"Of course I'm not," a voice came from behind her; she didn't move, but everyone else spun to look at the person speaking. It was Hayate.

Kuro motioned with her eyes for everyone to move, to leave, but it took them all a few seconds to respond. Then, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto shunpo'ed away, Rukia jumped off the room, and Ishida, Chad, and Orihime, leapt from the roof they were on to another roof. Ichigo hesitated for a moment before shunpo'ing away.

An arm wound around her waist and breath tickled her neck as Hayate spoke. "Have you come to join my side, dear sister, or opposed me. Either way, I have no wish to kill you or hurt you in any manner."

Kuro pulled away and spun around to face Hayate, who was smiling gently at her. She drew her sword but didn't release her shikai, automatically, running a finger over to the black blade. "I will not join your side."

Hayate's smile grew. "You will. Maybe not now, but sometime. You hate the Shinigami too much to stay on their side."

"Don't tell me what I feel."

"My precious sister, I know you better than you know yourself."

Shaking her head slightly and taking a step back, Kuro said, "Like hell you do."

Hayate shunpo'ed in front of her and, before she could react and shunpo away, grabbed her chin and slammed his lips against hers. He was taller than her by at least four inches—odd, seeing as they had the same parents and were the same age—so he had to lean down to reach her mouth with his.

His lips forced hers open, and she gasped as she pulled away, shunpo'ing to the edge of the roof—as far away from him as possible without falling off. Hayate was smirking at her as she wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" she screamed at him, her hands trembling with adrenaline and shock.

He cocked his head to the side a little, like he was confused, but his face showed no confusion, only pleasure…and a little bit of sorrow. "This was fine before, when we were here last time. I kissed you all the time then, just not on the lips."

Kuro flinched, remembering him press his lips to her forehead or cheek sometimes when she was crying or exhausted.

"That was different," she whispered.

"How?"

"Then you were more of a father figure or older brother to me than anything else. And I thought you were seven years older than me." She cringed again at the memories from the last time she was in the Seireitei, the last time she was in the Soul Society…before he saved her.

He had saved her.

"How is that any better?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. All around them there were sounds of the battles raging, but she couldn't concentrate on them, only on the person in front of her, her twin, her savior, and, in some ways, her destroyer.

"I don't know," she muttered. Then she straightened out, raising her sword, held tight in her clenched fist, and said, as clearly and strongly as she could, "Enough talk. Lets fight."

--

_**How was it? Please tell me. If you do, I'll post again sooner. Probably. If anyone cares. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.**_


	22. Battling Fate

_**Hello again. Well, that took a while. I hope it isn't bad. Anyway, if you haven't figured this out already, the chapters are coming less frequently. No, I haven't forgotten about you; these are harder to write because they weren't as planned out. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**_

--

_My prime of youth is but a frost of cares,__  
My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,__  
My crop of corn is but a field of tares,__  
And all my good is but vain hope of gain;__  
The day is past, and yet I saw no sun,  
And now I live, and now my life is done._

_My tale was heard and yet it was not told,  
__My fruit is fallen, yet my leaves are green,  
__My youth is spent and yet I am not old,__  
I saw the world and yet I was not seen;  
__My thread is cut and yet it is not spun,  
And now I live and now my life is done._

_I sought my death and found it in my womb,__  
I looked for life and found it was a shade,  
I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb,  
And now I die, and now I was but made;  
My glass is full, and now my glass is run,  
And now I live, and now my life is done._

_-Chidiock Tichborne  
-Elegy_

Hayate smiled, the action slightly sensual. "Very well; we'll fight. But I can't guarantee that you won't get hurt. Kuro raised her chin defiantly, then shunpoe'd towards her brother, murmuring her zanpakuto's name. She and her brother began a convoluted form of tag, circling and slashing at each other with deadly ferocity.

A slash landed on her collarbone, biting deep into her skin; she gasped in agony, pausing for a second. Hayate, taking advantage of her momentary stop, shunpoe'd in front of her, the tip of his blade snaking up to kiss her throat.

"This is a pointless fight, Osore. I _will_ win. We both know that."

Kuro closed her eyes for a moment. "You're wrong, Hayate. Neither of us knows that."

Hayate smiled, touching her cheek with his free hand. "Do you know what today is?" Kuro opened her eyes again and tensed her leg muscles as though preparing to spring.

"Of course I do." And then she flipped over backwards, her zanpakuto flying up at the same time to shove Hayate's away from her body. He leg shot out to kick Hayate in the chest, but he shunpoe'd backwards before it could hit him.

As Kuro landed on her feet, Hayate laughed. "It's our birthday."

--

_**Flashback**_

_A hand shook Kuro roughly, and her eyes shot open, a surprise gasp leaving her mouth. "C'mon, Osore. You have to get up. We're leaving."_

_Kuro blinked, exhaustion unmistakable in her hazy eyes. "What are you talking about, Isami? They're starting the experiments now? Isn't it too early?"_

_Isami shook his head, handing Kuro a sheathed sword. The sheath was black metal with a ribbon of gold wrapped around it. Kuro stared dumbly at the sheath for a moment before realizing it was _her_ sword; she hadn't seen it in so long. It had been years since she stopped going to the Academy, the lessons having been deemed useless for her._

"_What's going on?" Kuro asked quietly, rubbing her eyes with one hand to try to clear them._

_Isami helped her up, touching a finger to her cheek. "We're leaving the Soul Society. We're escaping."_

_Kuro flinched, her eyes widening, her eyebrows rising until they disappeared under her makeshift bangs. "We can't do that, Isami. If we try, we'll be caught and killed."_

_Shaking his head, Isami turned away from her and lifted up a sword from the ground. His sword. "We're going to be alright, Osore." _

_And then his eyes went blank._

_A massive surge of energy blasted through the cell, more intense than ever before. "_Houmen goshujin chimei doku, Kihaku Touzoku_!" It was his zanpakuto release. Kuro wondered for a second if he was really going to try to break out before he slashed through the bars of their cell. They fell to the ground with a loud clatter as two guards came running towards the cell._

_Isami muttered something—it seemed as though he was speaking to his zanpakuto—and the two guards collapsed, their eyes rolling back in their heads. Kuro gasped softly, but Isami didn't turn to look at her. Instead, he continued to walk down the hallway, his ultimate destination one of the gates to the real world._

_Kuro chased after him, drawing her sword but refusing to use her shikai. She was too afraid of losing control. Looking down at herself, her pale, scarred, bruised skin, her too-small, ragged clothing, she muttered the words, "Happy birthday," and continued running._

_Nobody tried to stop her along the way out of the building. Had Isami killed all of them, she wondered. Or were none there?_

_Were they afraid of her?_

_Kuro shook that thought out of her head and sped up, trying to catch up to Isami. She needed him. He was everything to her, everything she had._

_She couldn't live without him._

_**End of Flashback**_

_--_

"Why are you doing this?" Kuro shouted at Hayate as their swords clashed yet again, sunlight reflecting off of the blades.

Hayate feinted to the left, then swung his sword from the right, his blade biting deep into her skin. Kuro swore, biting down hard on her bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain. "Why am I doing this?" he repeated. "I shall be known as the greatest Shinigami of all time, and you shall be my queen."

"I'll never be your queen," Kuro vowed.

Hayate' lips curled up at the ends, a mixture of a smirk and a smile. "Don't worry—I can be very persuasive."

Kuro shook her head, raising her sword hand and pointing it at her brother. "_Enkou, Hebi no Hinote._" Flame, Serpent's Fire. Her release. A massive black dragon appeared behind her, then rose up twenty feet in the air.

"I'm not giving up. Get ready." Hayate cocked his head to the side, then vanished. Kuro turned 45° and her sword met another; her brother appeared for a moment before vanishing. Kuro's dragon disappeared, and a second later, a small drop of blood fell to the ground twenty feet from where Kuro was standing. Another drop hit Kuro in the face, just below her right eye, and she flinched slightly.

A phantom voice came in her ear. "You're afraid of going insane." Kuro whirled around, slashing her sword in a fruitless attempt to strike Hayate.

"You're afraid of losing your memories."

"Angrophobia."

"Hedonophobia."

"Soteriophobia."

Kuro flinched as Hayate spoke each of her fears aloud; was she afraid, she wondered, of others hearing, or that perhaps, by him saying them, they would become real? She knew he was just messing with her mind, but, at the same time, she knew it was working.

He could read her, her every move, her every thought. There was almost no way for her to win. He was stronger than her and he could anticipate her every move.

Except…he seemed to be against his previous life, before he escaped the Soul Society. She may not know him as well as he knew her, but she could tell when she called him Isami in the cave so long ago that he didn't like it. Any reminder of what had been hurt him.

Kuro raised her chin to stare Hayate in the eye. He was standing ten feet away from her, his sword in his right hand, blood trickling down his arm.

"Give up, Kurasawa Hayate."

--

_**How did you like it? I know people at least look at this story—I check the stats and I do have hits on these later chapters, so please review. I need feedback. PLEASE!!**_


	23. The Hardship of a Conscience

_**I am so sorry that that took so long. I had terrible writers block. I finally managed to get most of it out today. Please read it. I really hope you like it.**_

_--_

_"Osore was a happy child, always caring for her family and her friends, even at such a young age. She never cried, and was always, always smiling. She will be sorely missed. By everyone."_

_-Kuro Hayao at his daughter's funeral_

Hayate flinched, his sword lowering a fraction of an inch. "So you noticed, did you?" He wiped a trickle of blood from his forehead, leaving another bloody streak on his face. "But that won't win you this fight." He smiled. "Don't you get it? I can make you see what you want to see. I can give you what you want. Come with me. We belong together."

Kuro shook her head, turning her sword absentmindedly so it glinted in the sun. Her attention was focused on her brother, and she didn't take her eyes off his blood-smeared face. "Shut up and fight, Hayate," she ordered, considering then refusing to call him Isami, as that would taint her very memory of the caring, warm friend she had had that was so very different from this cold, heartless boy she was fighting.

Hayate shrugged, his eyes half-closed as though he was bored. Kuro held out her sword, watching as a drop of blood dripped from it to the battered rooftop, staining the gray ground. Then, in a flash, a blur of color and light, Hayate was behind her, the thin blade of his sword pressed up against her throat.

"Why won't you join me, dear sister?" he whispered in her ear, letting his breath stir the hair at the base of her neck.

Kuro let one finger touch her brother's sword, directly across from where her pulse was thudding in her throat. "I'm not like that anymore, Hayate. I don't want a world with nobody else, not anymore."

Hayate smiled, like she had just said something faintly amusing but blatantly untrue, like an adult would watching a small child insist the moon was made out of cheese. "Of course you think that now. But don't worry: you'll realize it's better soon."

Turning very slightly, Kuro shunpo-ed suddenly, ducking, simultaneously shoving Hayate's sword towards him and slashing her own sword at his chest. He stumbled back for a second, then shunpo-ed away, a little to late to dodge his sister's attack. Blood splattered on her blade and on the ground before her, and she spun around, searching for him.

Hayate stood at the other end of the building, blood gushing from the wound in his abdomen, his chest heaving. He shunpo-ed forward, leaving a trail of blood streaming through the air behind him and splashing unceremoniously down to the dull gray rooftop.

Kuro blocked his attack with her sword, silver flashing against black; she thrust him back, away from her, her sword shimmering in the sun as she swung it in a crescent sweep. He leapt back, pressing one hand to his stomach.

Kuro closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then reopened them. She could feel that they were unfocused, blank, and her body moved, lunging forward before she even told it to raise the sword. Her body shunpo-ed forward, even before her mind began to understand what was going on.

As though she were watching a movie, Kuro saw her body move mindlessly forward a millisecond before moving forward with it. A dullness, a nothingness, like unconsciousness without loss of sight or sound, spread through her body, like it always did when she lost control.

But this time it was different.

She wasn't acting on anger. She wasn't even really acting on emotion, any emotion; she couldn't even feel real emotion through this impossibly enveloping blankness. This time it was about power and about winning. Emotion was…not _meaningless_, but it wasn't what led her new power.

"Finally," he whispered, a small smile touching his voice, if not his lips. But she couldn't respond; her mouth didn't seem to be connected to her brain anymore.

Her sword struck his, her onyx dragon moving without her frozen brain telling it to. It was almost frightening—almost, because the power kept her fear at bay. She didn't fight it—not now. She knew it was her only chance to win.

"That's right," he crooned. "Let it happen. Now we can have a real fight." His voice was soothing, and familiar, and she let it fill her up, because that would be the last memory of his being Isami, even if he wasn't…Isami.

Hayate was fighting earnestly, his wounds seemingly forgotten. His eyes too turned pure white, ice rather than snow. Together the sword flashed against each other and against flesh, spilling blood, spilling life, taking the heart's very beating.

Kuro's blade glinted the sunlight into her eyes as it sliced cleanly through Hayate's abdomen, from his left side, just beneath the bottom of his ribs to directly where his heart was; her mind flooded back into her body, and she gasped, pulling her sword from his body. Hayate fell to his knees, drawing in shaking, gasping breaths as he leaned on his sword. His eyes, too, had turned back to normal, and his irises shook as his body trembled.

"Kuro," he gasped, blood gushing from the gaping wound on his chest.

Kuro fell to her knees next to him, her breath coming in short gasps to match his. "Hayate—you—I—" He smiled at her and touched her hair, sticky and matted with blood and sweat.

"Don't worry," he murmured, his eyes sliding closed part way. "I can be very persuasive."

And then he slumped forward, onto her, his grip on his sword slackening so it clattered to the ground. She laid him out of the rooftop, pressing her hand to his eyes to close them. No tears escaped her eyes as she stared at the man she had always loved, the man who had kept her sane and had brought light to her dark desolate world. She could not cry, even for his passing.

A word escaped his trembling lips. "Hayate."

Hayate.

Hayate.

Hayate.

Hayate.

Hayate.

Isami.

Isami.

Isami.

Isami.

Isami.

Isami.

The words ran together, the names tripping over each other as they hastened to get out. She whispered his names, the name she had loved in times of peace, before her world had shattered, and the name she had loved in times of pain, after her life had fallen apart, after her mind had completely shut down and she had gotten past hoping for any salvation.

In the end, they were the same. The name didn't matter. It was the soul.

Soul.

Kihaku.

Isami.

Hayate.

He had kept her alive. Both of them had.

The cold, calculating, sensual Hayate, who was dark and sadistic and hell-bent only on getting revenge, and then getting her.

The warm, comforting, brotherly Isami, who had stroked her hair and kissed her brow and taught her bankai.

This was her eulogy to them. This was her way of saying goodbye.

She whispered one last thing.

"I have always loved you."

_--_

_**I have to go, so please just read and review and I hope to post again before November, at which time I will almost definitely take a month off from writing fanfics. Bye.**_


	24. Elegy to the Dead

_**Well, here it is. Me being angsty in my stories. I hope you enjoy. It's funny. At first, I could figure out how to make it long enough, and then I couldn't figure out how to end it. Imagine that. Word count wise, this is actually really short, but in length-length, it's pretty long for me.**_

--

_To live in hearts we leave behind  
Is not to die._

_-Hallowed Ground by Thomas Campbell_

She didn't know how long she sat there, but it was only then that she began to realize the resemblances. The shape of their nose, the way their eyes moved. The way their mind worked. The curve of their mouth during their rare smiles.

They had all lost so much in this time, experienced so much pain. Hayate and Isami and her.

They had all turned cold.

Hard.

Afraid.

--

_A hand resting on the nape of her neck shoved her forward, into a gray concrete cell with on bunk-bed cot. A boy with shoulder-length brown hair was sitting on the bottom bunk, his head resting on his hands, his shoulders resting on his knees. When she stumbled in, he looked up, and his blue eyes widened._

_"You," he gasped, and then he composed himself. "Were you just brought in, too?"_

_Kuro stared open-mouth at the boy. "Ah—Yes."_

_He smiled encouragingly. "I'm Katoni Isami. What's your name?"_

_"Kuro Osore."_

_"Osore-chan. I like that."_

--

Sounds of fighting reached her unfeeling bubble_. _A red cero beam flashed past a foot above her head, but she didn't flinch.

The sound was a caress compared to the noises running through her head, the voices, _his _voices.

Hayate was dead.

Pain.

Isami was dead.

Agony.

Both were dead.

Impossible.

Nothing could possibly hurt that much.

--

_The cell door clanged open, and a guard walked into, his hand clutching his zanpakuto. Isami and Kuro looked up, startled at the sudden intrusion. When the guard took a step towards them, Isami was up in a flash, standing protectively in front of Kuro._

"_I'm not going to hurt you," the guard soothed, taking another step towards them._

_Isami glared at the man, his back to Kuro as she stood up carefully, trying to avoid exasperating her wounds further. "What do you want," he demanded._

"_I have orders to let the girl free for the day. I have no intention of hurting either of you." The guard took yet another step towards them, and Isami's pupils began to fade._

_A hand shoved him in the back, just a little, and his eyes widened, the pupils returning rapidly. Kuro stepped around him._

"_I'll go with him," she whispered, her voice rasping from under-use. "Calm down, Isami. Please."_

_Isami nodded. "Just make sure you come back."_

"_The kid'll be fine," the guard assured him._

_Isami snapped his attention back to the guard. "I don't trust you, so I don't care what you say."_

"_Calm," Kuro whispered._

"_Right. Calm."_

--

A voice shouted her name.

Not Isami.

Not Hayate.

A silhouette blocked out the sun.

Not Isami.

Not Hayate.

A hand touched her shoulder.

Not Isami.

Not Hayate.

But who said it didn't matter?

--

_"Must you keep on following me?" Kuro asked in her low, whispery voice, not even bothering to turn around to look at the man shadowing her. The man didn't answer, and she didn't seem to be waiting for an answer._

_A black-clad person swept, their arm brushing against Kuro's in their haste. Kuro flinched, letting out a soft gasp of pain from the back of her throat. The person stopped immediately, turning around to face Kuro with side eyes._

"_I'm sorry," she apologized. "Are you alright?" Kuro nodded, panting slightly. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia. What's yours?"_

_Kuro bit down on her lower lip—hard. "Kuro…O-Osore." A deep, shaky breath tore its way down her throat, and then her teeth were back on her lip, turning them white with pressure._

_Rukia smiled and turned all the way around so her body was facing Kuro's. "What squad are you in? I don't recognize you."_

"_S-Squad? I'm…not in one."_

"_Are you in the Academy?"_

_Kuro touched her arm lightly, wincing at even that feather-light touch. "No. I'm from the living world."_

_I don't belong here._

_--_

"Kuro? Kuro, are you alright?" Kuro looked up at the voice, at the person shaking her shoulder light, and her hazy vision cleared.

It was Ichigo.

"I'm fine," she whispered, her eyes straying back to the body on the ground next to her. Its blood had stained her hands red.

In one fluid, calm movement, she stood, and took a step away from Ichigo. "Is the fighting done?" she asked. Flat. Calm. Toneless. Emotionless.

He nodded. "More or less. The fourth squad is still trying to find all the injured, but it's over. We won. You won."

Kuro shook her head, her hair swaying with the motion. "No, Kurosaki, I didn't."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he furrowed his brow, his expression confused and torn. "But you defeated him."

"I defeated him, but he won. I loved him, so he won."

Ichigo was about to respond, but was interrupted by a person's call from behind him. Orihime skip-ran up to them, and somehow managed to trip on a rock and fall into Ichigo.

He stumbled forward and—

His mouth connected with Kuro's.

--

_**You probably won't be hearing from me for a while. But please read and review and I'll try to see if I can pry myself away from my novel to write another chapter.**_


	25. For One Time Again

_**Oh my god, don't eat me!!!! I'm really, really, really sorry that it took so long for me to write this, and it's not even all that long. But I was really, really busy and stuff…. Anyway, I feel really bad now and stuff :(. If you don't eat me, it will be much appreciated.**_

_--_

_Red like blood.  
White like bone.  
Red like solitude.  
White like silence.  
Red like the beastly instinct.  
White like a god's heart.  
Red like thawing hatred.  
White like a frozen, pained cry.  
Red like the night's hungry shadows.  
So shooting through the moon in a sigh is like  
radiant white, scattered red._

_His mouth connected with Kuro's._

Three pairs of eyes widened in surprise, and Ichigo immediately began to pull away, a glowing blush lighting up his face like Christmas lights. Kuro's eyes slid closed as she crumpled, her knees bending; Ichigo caught her instinctively, holding her up.

"Kuro-san," Orihime called, running over to her. Immediately, she called out her fairies and began healing the unconscious girl. "I can heal her," Orihime told Ichigo while she worked, "but we should get her to the fourth division as soon as possible. Can you carry her?"

Ichigo nodded, pulling the limp Kuro into his arms and, Orihime hanging onto his arm, shunpo-ed to the fourth division, where a few fourth division members were waiting.

--

Captain Unohana was sitting in her office, reading damage reports. Suddenly, a huge burst of reiatsu, four times that of most of the strongest of her squad, came rushing through the room, emanating from one of the patient rooms. Standing up, her chair shoving out behind her and falling, laying there forgotten, she raced out of the room, her kimono's baggy cloth flapping behind her as she ran.

When she entered the room, her eyes immediately pulled in all of the details; Hanatarou was lying in the corner of the room, unconscious, while Ichigo was standing, slightly hunched over, next to Kuro, who was letting out an incredible amount of reiatsu, almost as much as Kenpachi's, or even Commander-General Yamamoto's. It felt like there was actually something weighing Unohana down, despite the fact that it was just plain air, smelling of disinfectants and the faint tang of blood that seemed to be always present in the division.

"I must ask you to behave yourself," Unohana told her patient, whose eyes were wide and furious as they pierced the captain's gaze with their own.

Kuro visibly trembled with fury, and her voice trembled when she spoke. "Let me out of here."

Unohana smiled gently, that perfect, doctor-like smile. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Please calm down and control your reiatsu." A vein pulsed and jumped in Kuro's neck, and Ichigo flinched slightly, as though he—wonderboy, the strongest Shinigami there was, more or less—was afraid of her—the girl from the small town in the middle of nowhere, the broken one. How ridiculous.

"I am controlling my reiatsu," Kuro told Unohana, "or at least a portion of it. If you're asking me to lessen my reiatsu output, well, I won't do that until you let me leave. Although her voice was more controlled now, her eyes were still furious, and she was still letting out that crushing reiatsu.

Unohana's kind, gentle smile remained intact as she spoke. "I will sedate you if you don't."

"You don't understand," Kuro muttered, closing her eyes for a moment in a quickly, jolty movement. "I can't stay here. There now way that I can stay here. I'll lose control. I respect you, Unohana-taichou, but you won't be able to stop me." She shoved her chin towards Ichigo. "He won't be able to either."

Unohana appraised the girl for a moment, then walked over to Hanatarou, who was opening his eyes blearily. When he spotted the captain standing above him, he leapt to his feet and bowed as low as he could. "I-I'm s-s-s-sorry," he stuttered into his knees. "I just—she—"

Unohana cut him off gently. "It's alright. You are not at fault. Go attend to some of the other patients." Hanatarou nodded, still bowing, then straightened out and scurried out of the room, his expression still terrified. Unohana turned back to Kuro. "I don't believe I ever had the privilege of meeting you in person before, although I have treated you before. Are you in pain?"

"No," Kuro snapped. But when she opened her mouth to speak again, four people appeared into the room; a tired-looking Byakuya led the group, a half-healed gash just above his left eye. Renji was behind him, and a step to the left, blood-soaked bandaged wrapped around his arm visible though his tattered sleeves; Shinsui was behind Byakuya, an uncharacteristic frown on his face; Ukitake was standing next to Shinsui, and about a foot behind him, his face even more pale than usual, dried blood caked on his clothes. Half a second later, Nanao, Kiyone, and Sentaro appeared behind their respective captains; for once, Kiyone and Sentaro weren't even bickering.

"What's happening?" Byakuya demanded, taking a step forward, his sword in his hand, his body tensed for attack.

Kuro stared balefully at him as Unohana stepped towards the agitated captain. "Kuro-san is requesting to be allowed to leave the fourth division."

"Absolutely not," Byakuya responded immediately. "We are under long-standing orders to capture her immediately if she is ever seen.

Kuro clenched her teeth. "Then why the hell didn't you guys bring me in before? Oh yeah, I was _helpful_ to you. Now, once I'm not helpful anymore, I should be detained. The hypocrisy of this place is astounding." Her reiatsu level rose again, until Nanao, Kiyone, and Sentaro were all leaning against the wall for support, and even Renji and some of the captains looked a little off-balance.

Shinsui took a step towards her, standing next to her, and Nanao immediately tried to follow him, only to find that she couldn't stand without the wall supporting her. She fell back against the wall, panting hard, and Renji looked back at her for a second. Shinsui's sword was out, although he wasn't clenching it as tightly as Byakuya was clenching his.

Unohana stepped between the captains—and Renji—and Kuro, who was beginning to look murderous. Ichigo had a hand on her shoulder, and she hadn't shoved it off yet, or jumped to her feet. Her sword wasn't in the room, but somehow the others in the room could guess that she could hurt them without it. Her reiatsu alone was becoming painful.

"No fighting in the fourth division," Unohana told them firmly. "And you aren't taking my patient until she is healed."

Kuro's eyes narrowed, and she clenched her fists against the sheets. "You aren't taking me at all. I've gotten out of here before; I can get out again."

"Not alone, you didn't," Renji reminded her.

"I can get out alone," Kuro told him, her voice completely blank, her pupils and irises beginning to fade, getting slightly paler. "And if you don't want me to destroy all of your research facilities, you'll let me go."

Renji shook his head, scoffing a little. "Yeah, right. You can't do that."

"I think you don't comprehend how dangerous I am." Kuro's voice was harsh, and biting, but Renji just rolled his eyes, snickering.

Reiatsu pulsed towards Renji, shoving against him, and he crumpled, falling down to his knees, his eyes wide and horrified, his skin going completely white, a choke coming up through his throat.

"Get them out of here," Unohana demanded, and a second later Nanao, Kiyone, Sentaro, Renji, and Ukitake all vanished. The reiatsu that had surrounded Renji now retreated back to Kuro, who smiled crookedly and threw her legs off of the bed.

Everyone tensed.

"Give me my sword," Kuro ordered, getting to her feet.

Byakuya frowned, taking another step forward. "We can't do that. You are going to come with us now."

Kuro shook her head. "No, I'm not. Now give me my sword, or I'm going to break through this goddamn place until I find it."

And then, as though emphasizing her mount, she pointed her finger at one of the walls that led to the outside and muttered, "Hadou: Number 4 Byakurai." Then, as huge hole opened up in the wall, the lightning decimating it, she turned back to it. "You don't want to teach your prisoners Kido if you don't want them to escape." And then she shunpo-ed away.

**_--_**

**_I should post again soon. The story is coming to an end, with only a few chapters left, but there will be a sequel soon. Anyway, please review._**


	26. Kuro Osore

_**Hello again. I know, I know, I was supposed to post by the end of the year, but I was busy. Sorry. Anyway, I'm really happy, because I just got my braces off. My retainer is annoying, but I should get used to it soon enough.**_

--

_When all the world sees_

_A monster_

_Then truly_

_You are_

_Human_

_-Four years earlier_

Kuro Osore.

Kuro Osore.

Kuro Osore.

Kuro Osore.

Why was that her name? That was a name destined for misery. Giving a child that name was practically begging for them to have an unhappy life.

And now here she was, living in this place, barely even human anymore, but just a body, an _experiment_.

"Osore." A voice came from beside her, and she looked up. It was Isami. Of course. Who else would it be?

God, she was tired. She hadn't slept in nearly three days. That wasn't good for her, he told her, and he didn't listen when she told him she couldn't sleep.

"You're being let out again," Isami told her, and she looked at him, her eyes half-closed and dull. Kuro nodded, barely able to keep her head from drooping down.

Propping herself against the wall, Kuro stood up and rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn as she walked towards the door of their cell. To her surprise, it was Rukia who met her there, along with two guards.

Swiftly, one guard unlocked the cell, and Kuro stumbled out, cringing when her bad arm—or, rather, her worse arm, as they were both in bad shape—collided with the cement wall.

"Are you alright?" Rukia asked, and Kuro looked at her, rubbing her bad arm with her other hand.

Wearily, Kuro nodded. "I'm fine. Why are you here, Kuchiki-_sama_?"

Rukia smiled and, motioning for Kuro to follow her, began walking towards the exit of the prison. "We're going to the Kuchiki manor. I want to talk to you." Kuro shot a sardonic look at Rukia's back before following after her. The guards followed silently behind, just ghosts.

As Rukia led Kuro through the crowded streets—that was the only way to get to the Kuchiki manor—all eyes were on them. Kuro wasn't very inconspicuous, with her tattered clothing and wraith-like complexion, and the wordless, stony-faced guards only served to draw the remaining stares.

The people stared at Rukia, or the guards, or Kuro, but none would meet Kuro's eyes, not for very long. It was fear, Kuro determined, that made them do that. They were afraid of her, when in truth, she had essentially been enslaved by them.

"Don't mind them," Rukia muttered to the pale girl walking beside her, and Kuro felt a surge of belonging—one that quickly vanished the second they reached the Kuchiki manor.

The cherry blossoms all around the entrance were in bloom, their petals, all of the finest pink, falling across the walkway and drifting into their hair as they walked into the wrought-iron gate. The house itself didn't look all that impressive from the front, but as the four of them passed into the courtyard, they could see a huge expanse of land—and house.

Rukia led Kuro into the house, where the two of them sat down at a short, simple wooden table. The guards stood just outside the doorway, waiting for any sign that Kuro may lose control.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Rukia asked after a moment. "Or anything to eat? You look like you aren't fed enough."

Kuro shook her head rubbing her eyes with her good hand. "No. Why do you want to talk to me?"

Rukia's smile dropped a little, but she forced it to stay in place, until it almost looked like a grimace plastered on her face. "I looked you up—tried to get as much information about you as I could. You're on _one_ unclassified record—and it's just about them…acquiring you. Everything else is classified. I want to know who you are."

"Kuro Osore."

Rukia's smile grew sarcastic now, but Kuro only rubbed her eyes again in response. "You and I both know that that wasn't the answer I was looking for."

"Well, forgive me"—Kuro's eyes were almost amused, but they were tired too. Tired, but not just exhausted—"_Kuchiki-sama_."

"Lets start with you age," Rukia began again. "How old are you? 110? 120? 130, maybe?"

There was a pause, as Kuro leaned an elbow against the table and clenched the fingers on the bridge of her nose. "Eleven."

"111?" Rukia's voice was softer now, a little gentler, as though she had some understanding with Kuro.

There was a small, mirthless smile on Kuro's lips now. "No. Eleven. I've been keeping track of days since I was—acquired. There've been 764." Her eyes closed, and it took her almost thirty seconds to reopen them.

Rukia's next words choked in her throat. "You're—I mean, you—you—_eleven_?" she finally sputtered out. Kuro nodded, and this time when she closed her eyes, they didn't reopen.

"As of fifteen days ago," Kuro answered, "yes."

"Rukia," a voice called from outside the room, and Kuro stiffened, opening her eyes and slowly, painfully climbing to her feet. Rukia frowned and stood as well. "Have you seen Kuchiki-taichou?"

The door slid open before Rukia could answer, and an annoyed-looking Renji stood in the doorway, his zanpakuto strapped to his side. Kuro grabbed a sword from the wall—a decorative wall hanging, but still relatively sharp—and moved in front of Rukia, made faster by shunpo.

"What're you doing?" Rukia demanded, at the same that that Renji ordered, "Get away from her, Rukia," and shunpo-ed closer to Kuro, his sword out.

Kuro raised the sword, and Renji smirked at her. "You'll never be able to hurt me with a dull sword that isn't even your zanpakuto."

"_What are you talking about?_"

"She's the one that beat Hitsugaya-taichou."

Kuro's eyes went dark, then completely white. When she spoke again, her voice was calm, and quiet. "You attacked my mother."

Her reiatsu skyrocketed. Rukia fell back against the wall, panting heavily, sweat beading at her throat; Renji's sword lowered half an inch, then an inch, and his breathing was shallow.

Both guards burst into the room, their zanpakutos raised, and immediately fell to their knees. "You are not going to hurt anybody else," Kuro gritted out, then swore under her breath and closed her eyes. The reiatsu level lessened a little, then cut off completely, until it they couldn't even feel Kuro in the room.

"I'm not going to kill you," Kuro said softly. "But you are not going to hurt anyone else around me, ever."

Renji smirked at her, regaining his composure. "You won't be able to stop me."

Kuro raised one eyebrow. "You have no idea what you're doing."

--

_**Thanks for reading. Please review. I dunno when I'll post next. This story will be over soon—only two or three more chapters left—and then I'll write a sequel, sometime after that.**_


	27. These New Battles

_**Oh my God, I am so sorry. Please don't eat me. I really, really, really didn't mean to take this long, but I had midterms and I was sick and I was stalling and—**_

_**Anyway, I hope that I still have at least one reader. Please enjoy.**_

--

_War. The hell where youth and laughter go._

_-Siegfried Sassoon_

Kuro stopped on top of the Squad Nine building, sending out her senses, trying to locate her zanpakuto. One thing they couldn't fake was reiatsu, so if she found it, it was there. And it was—

Shit.

Oh, goddamn it. It was with…Kuchiki Byakuya. One of the few people in the Soul Society she actually wanted dead. He was in his division, probably sitting at his desk, all prim and proper. Well, good. She would enjoy destroying his desk.

Although fighting him with no zanpakuto would be interesting.

But no matter. She would get her sword back and go back to the living world and never come back. With that thought in mind, she shunpo-ed away.

Seconds later, she stood outside Byakuya's office, repressing her reiatsu until it was nearly non-existent. Only a particularly skilled Shinigami would be able to sense her—someone like Kuchiki Byakuya.

The said man was outside his door within half a second, her sword at his waist. He looked uncomfortable carrying it, like people always did holding a zanpakuto that wasn't theirs. It had to do with reiatsu clashing.

"Kuro Osore." It was a statement, in that way he had of making unimportant statements sound of vital importance. God, she hated him. He was so goddamn…prim, tidy even while slaughtering innocent people.

Kuro nodded. "Kuchiki Byakuya. Give me my sword back."

"No. You are an enemy, and you shall be treated as such." His voice was so goddamn smug. Damn it.

"Give me my sword back," Kuro repeated, feeling her fingertips tingle; she wanted to use Kidō so badly, to just smash his face in and leave. But calm was better. People didn't fear calm the first time. It was only when you won calm that you were feared. And maybe if they feared her, they would leave her alone.

Byakuya smirked at her in his composed way. "Your mind is slower than your tongue." Taunting. A weakling's tactics. But he wasn't weak—not by a long shot. Maybe he just felt so superior that he believed all others were below him, only worthy of taunting.

As though synchronized, the two Shinigami shunpo-ed outside and onto the roof, Byakuya with his sword out, Kuro with her arm outstretched, ready to use Kidō.

"Hadou: Number 4 Byakurai." Kuro's voice was almost a whisper, but the white lightning that shot towards Byakuya was like a clap of thunder.

Byakuya shunpo-ed out of the way, his sword slashing out at Kuro, who spun and shunpo-ed towards the side, out of reach of the sharp, shining blade.

Kuro began muttering the incantation for another Kidō. "Ye Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man. Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." A huge blue shot of reiatsu burst from her fingertips and hurled towards Byakuya. He shunpo-ed away, but he was half a second late, and the ball slashed across his arm.

A few drops of blood dripped from his grazed arm, and he grimaced in surprise. Kuro smirked, darting towards him; she grabbed for her sword, but he shupo-ed back, and her hand closed over air.

"Dammit," she swore. She had to stop him. "Rikujōkōrō," she muttered, knowing it wasn't going to last long enough for her to actually get the sword. The pillars slammed into Byakuya's chest, but it took him barely ten seconds to break it.

And then he released his zanpakuto. "You will not win this fight, Kuro Osore," he told her, smirking as petal-like blades appeared all around the two of them.

Kuro didn't respond to the taunt. Instead, she shunpo-ed towards Byakuya again, reaching for the hilt of her sword. The blades, reflecting pink in the sunlight, shot at her, and she shupo-ed out of the way so as not to be hit by them. A few nicked her side, but she ignored them, moving again towards Byakuya and the sword in his possession.

"Kin," Kuro muttered, and iron shafts bound Byakuya's arms. "Geki." Red light engulfed him, and he froze, completely paralyzed. The blades slowed down a little, but they were still fast.

Kuro then shunpo-ed towards Byakuya, and her hand closed over the sword hilt, pulling it out of the sheath before Byakuya broke through the two binding spells and shunpo-ed away.

At least she had her sword.

Quickly, Kuro used bankai, and the large black dragon burst out of the black katana. Its fangs looked longer than usual, and there was a glint in its eyes. Immediately, the dragon swooped in on Byakuya, its teeth trying to bite the black-haired captain, but he dodged, shunpo-ing away.

Kuro shupo-ed behind him, slashing at him before he could shunpo away again. Her sword grazed his skinning, slicing a cut in his haori and a shallow laceration in his skin. Blood soaked his clothing, but he didn't even flinch.

Kuro slashed at him again, but this time he dodged, and her sword didn't get anywhere near him. About six hundred tiny blades shot at Kuro, cutting into her body. A few sliced deep into her non-sword arm, but she fought most of them off.

Blood gushed from the wounds in her arm, but she ignored the pain and just kept on fighting. She had to keep on fighting. If she didn't fight, she couldn't win.

It was just that simple.

They shunpo-ed around each other, each trying to gain an advantage, like the dance of two predators. Eyes glinting, swords flashing, they fought.

But it was even, or close enough.

Jolts of reiatsu shot out from both Shinigami, some going as far out as a few miles. Within ten or fifteen minutes, there was a huge crowd of people gathered around them, watching the fight. They made sure not to get too close, for fear of being hit by flaying blades or bursts of fire; bets were being made about who would win—most voted on Byakuya.

Byakuya never lost.

Kuro's sword dug into muscle in Byakuya's non-sword arm, and he pulled back sharply, shunpo-ing nearly fifteen feet away from her. His arm hung limply at his side, the sleeve shredded.

Kuro's eyes lightened another shade, so her irises were light gray instead of their normal black. As that happened, her reiatsu level increased, and her dragon grew, its fangs elongating.

Shunpo-ing forward in a burst of speed, Kuro lunged forward, her sword flying towards Byakuya. She—and it—stopped just before him; the tip of her sword pressed up against his throat, and she murmured a Kidō to keep him from moving.

"I will not kill you, Kuchiki Byakuya," she told him, and the words echoed through the silence, "Because I do not kill unnecessarily. But I will leave here with my sword. And if you ever try to take me back to this place, I will kill you and everyone around you. Do you understand me?"

Byakuya didn't respond.

Kuro stared him in the eye for another second, then shunpo-ed away, disappearing.

Immediately, an outburst of whispers came from the crowd as a medical team converged on Byakuya. But Kuro just kept on going farther away, trying to get as far away as she could.

The thought of fighting again disgusted her.

Because they were still just fighting new battles in old wars.

--

_**Okay. This was the second to last chapter. I don't know when the next chapter will be posted. I hope it doesn't take me as long as it took to post this one, but I don't know. And then I won't post the sequel for a while. The sequel involved a character my friend came up with years ago, at the same time that I came up with Kuro originally.**_

_**Please review.**_


	28. At Last

_**Well, here it is. The end. I wasn't sure how to write this, actually. It was really hard to write. I just kind of thought that I had to make it good, as a tribute to my characters. **_

_**My birthday is tomorrow. Think of this as my party favor.**_

_--_

_My prime of youth is but a frost of cares,  
My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,  
My crop of corn is but a field of tares,  
And all my good is but vain hope of gain;  
The day is past, and yet I saw no sun,  
And now I live, and now my life is done._

_My tale was heard and yet it was not told,  
My fruit is fallen, yet my leaves are green,  
My youth is spent and yet I am not old,  
I saw the world and yet I was not seen;  
My thread is cut and yet it is not spun,  
And now I live and now my life is done._

_I sought my death and found it in my womb,  
I looked for life and found it was a shade,  
I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb,  
And now I die, and now I was but made;  
My glass is full, and now my glass is run,  
And now I live, and now my life is done._

_-Chidiock Tichborne  
-Elegy_

It was cold out, and a thick blanket of snow covered the ground, already dirtied by footprints and the exhaust from cars. Kuro and Ichigo walked together down the sidewalk, backpacks over their shoulders, heading towards school.

It was their first day back, two days after they had returned from the Soul Society. All but the worst of Ichigo's wounds were healed, but Kuro refused to be healed. The wounds on her arms were particularly bad; every once in a while they still began bleeding.

Rukia was forbidden from returning to the real world if she wasn't going to take in Kuro, which meant she would probably be back within a day or so. She always got out somehow.

Being back, looking around, it was as though they had never left. It was still a town full of people too ignorant to know what was going on. They either didn't know what was going on or didn't or couldn't do anything about it.

--

_"Why?" Kuro muttered, pressing the tip of her sword to the flesh of her arm. "Why, of the two people strong enough to kill me, is one dead and the other too scared?"_

_She sank to her knees, her sword falling loosely to the ground. "Why can't I just…? Why can't I…?_

_"__Why?"_

_--_

School was just the same as always: loud and busy. Nobody knew—nobody understood. How could they?

"Where have you been, Kuro-san?" the teacher demanded, smacking Kuro over the head with a book. Kuro didn't answer, knowing that there was no way she _could_ answer.

Everything she once knew was gone, again. Her brother, her old life. Even her memories of her father were tainted with distrust and lies.

--

_How could she have not felt this agony before? It tore through her, biting deep into her skin, deeper than the wounds covering her pale, scarred body, ripping her apart from the inside._

_"__Are you alright?"_

_Was she alright? Those words were meaningless. She was broken, she was scarred, she was falling apart. "Being alright" meant that there was some part of her left to be__ alright._

_She didn't have anything left._

--

"I'm really sorry about your brother." That was Orihime. She had lost her brother, too. She could empathize.

BS.

She sounded as sweet and sympathetic as always, and it only served to sicken Kuro.

What the hell did she know? What the hell did any of them know?

--

_She couldn't take it anymore. She wanted out. She wanted out so badly, and she couldn't get out._

_There was no way out._

_Her mind was going to disintegrate, leaving just an empty, broken body._

_She was just an empty shell, just a body without a soul._

_Isami._

_--_

"Oh, you lost your brother? I'm so sorry."

Sorry. Sorry didn't mean anything. It was just a word. It was just saying: I need to say something, because it's expected.

Why bother? It was obvious she wasn't listening, obvious she didn't care.

--

"_What are you going to do now?"_

_What _was_ she going to do now? There wasn't anything she could do, really. She had part of her life hiding from the people who had kept her imprisoned for most of the rest of her life._

_She was a coward. That was what she was. She was just a coward, too scared to even get up and face herself in the mirror. She was too afraid of what she would see._

_She was too afraid of what she was._

_--_

"Come on, Kuro."

It was _his_ voice. Not the voice she had woken up to for years, earlier, but the new voice.

The new voice.

It was the voice that told her that she was home, the voice that told her that she was okay.

But she wasn't okay.

She wasn't okay, and she wasn't going to be. She was shattered and broken and falling apart and _not okay_.

But it was still his voice.

--

_She was a monster; that was what she was. She was a monster and she knew it and she hated it with all her might. She had known for years, ever since she lost control._

_Being afraid of what you were didn't make you any less dangerous. She knew that. In fact, it might only make you more dangerous, because the more afraid you are, the less in control you are._

_She knew that, too._

--

They were all dying. Why would it make such a difference if she died sooner?

It would relieve her of that horrible agony.

But she couldn't do it. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't do it. She couldn't take her own life. She was so sick of fighting, so sick of taking lives.

She was scared.

She was scared.

Did that make her any less human?

--

_She felt as though she had gone in a full circle. She was breaking, she was broken, she was mending, she was breaking, and now she was broken again._

_She was shattered into a million little pieces, shards scattered on the ground, stepped on and shattered into even smaller pieces._

_And then nobody had bothered to pick them up._

--

She wanted to be left alone. She wanted to be left alone in silence, so she could think.

Not that she wanted to think. She had to think. It was her payment.

She had to pay for the death she had caused. He had loved her; he truly had. He hadn't known how to show it, but he had loved her like almost nobody else had.

--

_He was gone._

_He was gone._

_She was just a child, but she wasn't. She wasn't a child anymore._

_Children didn't kill, didn't slaughter._

_He was a child, but he wasn't. He wasn't a child anymore._

_Children didn't love, didn't hate._

_She knew the moment they stopped being children. It was the moment he stopped being Hayate and she stopped being human._

_She remembered that moment, and would for all eternity._

--

Snow was still falling.

White drifted from the sky, down to the dirt-spattered ground, covering everything, coating everything.

She was going to survive this, not for herself, but for Isami. Her life was a tribute to Isami, because he saved her, and then she killed him.

_And now I live, and now my life is done._

_--_

_**And now the story is officially done. I don't know when the sequel will be posted, but I can tell you that it will be a while. Please review. How did you like the chapter? The end? The characters? The plot? And corrections? Any ideas?**_


	29. Author's Note

I know that I had said that, once I finished my Gakuen Alice fanfic, I would start posting the sequel to this, but I'm not sure anymore, because I now have a GA Breaking Hope sequel/spin-off that I'm thinking about writing. I'm going to put a poll on my profile. If you care and want me to post the sequel to this, vote for it.


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